Astraea Hill
by ThisAccountIsNowInactive354085
Summary: The girls are forced to adapt to change. Yaya's changing, Tsubomi's hopeful, Chikaru's wise, Tamao's confused, Shion's in denial, Miyuki's engaged, and now she's returning for a while, along with Shizuma. Multiple pairings, fluff and gaynst abounds.
1. Prologue

**Hey everyone! I've decided to at least try this out from some of the reviews I got for Say the Words- This is a YayaXTsubomi fanfic for the most part. It's not in the same universe as Say the Words, though most pairings are the same. The biggest difference is probably that Tamao and Nagisa will be together in this story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy, and remember to review! =)**

**Prologue**

**I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How to Dance With You**

"_The word's on the streets and it's on the news:  
I'm not gonna teach him how to dance with you.  
He's got two left feet and he bites my moves.  
I'm not gonna teach him how to dance! dance! dance! dance!  
The second I do, I know we're gonna be through.  
I'm not gonna teach him how to dance with you.  
He don't suspect a thing. I wish he'd get a clue.  
I'm not gonna teach him how to dance! dance! dance! dance!"_

_-Black Kids_

**One Month Ago…**

"Yaya-chan!"

Nanto Yaya was lying on her stomach, her face relaxed as she doodled aimlessly on what was supposed to be her math homework. She tensed out of habit, bracing herself for the distance that Hikari was sure to put between them- the first time Hikari had flinched away from her touch, it had hit her like a ton of bricks. "Nani?" she asked in a nonchalant tone, flipping her homework over so Hikari wouldn't see the arrow sticking out of that…_that what? That what, Yaya? No matter what you call her, Hikari will still choose her. She'll choose Amane-_sempai _each and every time, even though it was you there to protect her from Kaname- you who's protected her for _years.

Hikari, oblivious as ever to Yaya's concealed distress, came to stand directly in front of Yaya, casting an unavoidable shadow over the other girl's notebook. Reluctantly, Yaya raised her gaze to meet that of her best friend. _And that's all she'll ever be. _Hikari was biting down on her lower lip nervously. "Um…you know how Amane-sempai and I are running for Etoile together," she began, stuttering slightly, knowing the topic was still taboo among the three of them. "Well, each pair has to do a dance as part of the judging, and I was thinking, since you're the best dancer I know…"

"You want me to teach you how to dance?" Yaya asked, frowning in confusion as she sat up slowly. Hikari smiled, knowing that she had Yaya's full attention, but she rung her hands nervously.

"Um…kind of," she hedged. "The thing is, _I _already know the routine, but Amane-sempai's having some trouble picking it up…"

Yaya's confused look disappeared, but she didn't look angry- if anything, she looked just as crushed as she had that night that Hikari had pushed her away. "I see," she said quietly, sinking back onto the bed.

"_Please_, Yaya-chan?"

**PGBR**

"Ouch!"

Yaya hissed in pain as Amane stepped on her foot for what must have been the fifteenth time that day. _How does she expect me to teach her if I'm maimed for life? _"Sorry," Amane said, looking truly apologetic. Yaya sighed- it's not like it was the girl's fault she had two left feet. But it hurt to admit that Amane wasn't actually a bad person- that she would never do anything to hurt Hikari. Because that meant admitting that she had well and truly lost Hikari, and Yaya wasn't sure she could handle that just yet. _Or ever._

"Yeah, well, tell that to my right foot," Yaya muttered, wincing when she received a warning look from Hikari. "It's fine," she sighed. "Let's start from the top, but after a little break."

Amane went to check on Starbride, and Yaya limped over to Hikari with her trademark crooked smile. It quickly morphed into a smirk when she spotted the small, pink-haired girl who had joined her best friend, though.

"Aw, did my Tsubomi-chan miss me?" she asked, wrapping her arms around Tsubomi from behind. The smaller girl spluttered and instantly turned bright red, changing her surprised expression into an angry one.

"Get off me!" she stuttered, struggling against Yaya's arms, but the older girl held on tight. Yaya's smirk grew wider when she saw that Tsubomi was blushing down to the tips of her ears. "And I'm not 'your' Tsubomi-chan." The last statement was mumbled as an afterthought.

"Oh, right," Yaya said, as if remembering something, tightening her grip on Tsubomi. "You're here to see your beloved Hikari-_sempai_, right?"

"Yaya-chan," Hikari mumbled in weak protest.

"_Baka_!" Tsubomi cried, finally extracting herself from the arms of Yaya, who was grinning like a lion. "I am not!"

"So you _are _here to see me?"

"Yaya-sempai, you baka!"

A weight lifted itself from Hikari's chest as she watched the two argue- she hadn't seen Yaya smile like that since…well, it had been a long time. Suddenly, she let out a cry of surprise- Yaya had grabbed her from behind, still smirking at Tsubomi.

"Well now you can't have either of us," the dark-haired girl said, "So better get used to disappointment."

A flash of _something_ flickered through Tsubomi's eyes and for just a moment the pink-haired girl really did seem upset, but then the angry expression was back. Hikari felt a pang of panic when she realized it was _real _this time, and directed at _her. _Tsubomi was about to retort when the doors to the auditorium swung open and Amane stepped in.

Instantly, Yaya let go of Hikari and stepped away, her eyes lifeless once again as she watched the prince of Spica walk up to the stage and wrap a slightly-possessive arm around Hikari's waist. The blonde didn't miss the steel-melting glare Tsubomi shot at Amane, and suddenly her mind flashed back to her conversation with the pinkette a few days ago, when she had told a confused Tsubomi the entire story.

"_I don't like it when Yaya-sempai is upset," Tsubomi admitted with a heavy blush, but her eyes were determined as she raised them to meet Hikari's. "I want to be there for her."_

_ Hikari smiled through her tears. "That's so sweet, Tsubomi-chan."_

_ Tsubomi blushed down to her fingertips. "N-not that I care, or anything, but…no one deserves to be completely alone." Her eyes fell to the ground. "And…gomenesai, but no matter what you think, it sounds to me like what Yaya-sempai did wasn't as horrible as you made it out to be, Hikari-sempai. She's loved you for so long- I can see it in her eyes."_

_ This last sentence was said with a trace of something more, and Hikari furrowed her brow, but said nothing more about it._

For her part, Tsubomi was completely on the offensive- the only thing she had registered was that Amane had taken the smile off of Yaya's face.

Finally, Amane stepped forward, holding out her hand so that they could resume the lesson. Yaya stared at it for a moment, her eyes blank, before something broke, and she squeezed her eyes shut and pushed Amane's hand away.

"Gomenesai, Hikari," Yaya muttered, her eyes cast to the floor as she stepped away from Amane. "I thought I could do it. But I can't do it- I…I _won't_. You chose her, Hikari, there's nothing I can do about that, but I won't teach her how to dance with you."

With those words, Yaya turned and strode out of the auditorium with every ounce of dignity she had left to lose, her dark hair whipping around behind her.

Hikari just stood there, flabbergasted as the truth slapped her upside the head, while Amane draped an arm over her shoulder, stone-faced. The prince of Spica had never held any real contempt towards Yaya- the girl had done nothing but fall in love with Hikari, and how could Amane possibly blame her for that? Tsubomi, for her part, looked between the two of them, and, after realizing that neither of them intended to go after Yaya, huffed and stormed out herself.

A few minutes of silence passed between Amane and Hikari before the latter crumpled against the former's chest, body heaving with sobs. "It's my fault," she choked into Amane's uniform. "I've hurt her so much…"

Amane ran a hand through the blonde locks comfortingly. "You have," she said gently, "but it was unavoidable. She knows that- she doesn't blame you, Hikari-chan. If she blames anyone, it's _herself_." She paused for a moment, watching the door Tsubomi exited through thoughtfully. "And if I'm not mistaken, she's not alone, Hikari-chan."

Slowly, Hikari pushed away from Amane's chest and followed her gaze before a slight smile graced her lips. "I think Tsubomi-chan likes Yaya," she said, resting her head against Amane. "They're always arguing, but in the end, it's always Yaya that she chases after. She's so devoted to her…I just hope that it will become as obvious to Yaya as it is to us."


	2. Chapter One: When It Rains

**Hey again everyone! Thanks for all the reviews so soon, and I hope this story will live up to your expectations. I already have a good chunk of it written but I'll be posting as I get reviews or in some kind of semi-orderly manner. Anyway, here's chapter one! Enjoy!**

**One**

**When it Rains**

"_You made yourself a bed at the bottom of the blackest hole_

_And convinced yourself that it's not the reason_

_You don't see the sun anymore."_

_-Paramore_

"Get up!"

Yaya groaned as a pillow was thrown at her head, but made no move to actually get out of bed. "Tsubomi-chan's voice is worse than an alarm clock," she half-muttered, half-whined, her voice muffled by her pillow.

Tsubomi turned red and stomped over to the bed, yanking the covers away from the older girl's body. It had become a routine- the entire summer following the Etoile election, Yaya had refused to leave the dorm room, considering it her only safe place, as Hikari never spent the night anymore. Tsubomi was slightly annoyed with the blonde Etoile for her selfishness, but had become more concerned with Yaya's wellbeing than anything else. Once school began again, it had become apparent that Yaya wasn't planning on breaking the habit for her classes, and that's when Tsubomi had come in.

First, it had been Hikari trying to coax her out of bed, but that only made it worse for two reasons- Hikari was the r_eason _Yaya was in this position in the first place, and, more importantly, Hikari had nowhere near the endurance to last even a minute against a stubborn Yaya. Nagisa had come next, but was about as successful as Hikari. Tamao had _almost _gotten her out of bed, until she accidentally mentioned something about the Etoile, and Shizuma…well, that had just been a _complete _disaster. She had been called in as a last resort, and had literally forced Yaya out of bed and into a cold shower, sufficiently traumatizing the girl until Tsubomi had appeared and forced everyone out of the room. Yaya, of course, had run for the safety of her bed.

As it turned out, Tsubomi was the only one who could manage to make Yaya go to school by use of their clashing personalities. Or at least, that's how she saw it. The rest of the Astraea group saw something more- a new hope, even, but were too afraid to mention anything, given how fragile the situation was.

"If you don't get up right now, you're going to make us _both _late," Tsubomi huffed, tugging on Yaya's arm. "And I _will _throw a bucket of cold water over your stupid, ego-inflated head!"

"Tsubomi-chan is so mean," Yaya teased as she finally sat up, blinking the sleep from her eyes and yawning widely. Tsubomi found herself looking anywhere but at the older girl- she was still trying to figure out her feelings for Yaya, and it didn't help that the brunette was completely adorable when she first woke up. "Okay, okay, I'm up," Yaya conceded, raking her fingers through her hair. She was wearing a white bra with a pattern of hearts, and a matching pair of satiny boxer shorts, and Tsubomi couldn't help but stare at the vast expanses of smooth, bare skin, wondering how it would feel against her own… Then she realized what she was doing, and immediately turned beat red. Thankfully, Yaya was still too tired to notice anything.

"Good," Tsubomi huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "I was afraid you were going to make me late _again_."

"Mmm," Yaya hummed in acknowledgement, reaching forward and pulling Tsubomi to her from behind. "You don't have to come get me every morning, Tsubomi-chan. God knows you're enough of a brat during the day."

Tsubomi turned beat red as Yaya's practically naked body pressed against her back. "Y-Yaya-sempai!" she cried, pulling away and putting on her best angry face. "Keep your paws to yourself!" She then turned away, embarrassed by what she was about to say. "And I have to come get you, or else you'd rot in here by yourself."

"Aw, Tsubomi-chan cares about me!"

"I do not!"

Yaya stood, drawing herself to her full height, a head taller than Tsubomi, who straightened, refusing to be intimidated. Offering a rare smile to the pinkette, Yaya bent down and kissed Tsubomi's cheek. "Arigatou, Tsubomi-chan," she said, then slipped into the bathroom, just missing the book Tsubomi aimed at her once she'd come out of her kiss-induced trance.

Tsubomi sat down on the bed, her cheek burning from where Yaya's lips had pressed against it. "Baka," she murmured, blinking back tears. Up until this point, she'd been able to delude herself into thinking that it could all be a phase, but with that meaningless action on Yaya's part, there was no room for denial. _I'm in love with Yaya-sempai. _

At lunch, Tsubomi's nerves were at their peak- while Yaya slowly getting back to her old self was, in the long run, a good thing, there were also parts of it that didn't bode so well with Tsubomi, especially after her new realization.

Being one of the more popular girls at Spica (and all of Astraea Hill, for that matter), Yaya naturally had her own fair share of fangirls. Usually this wouldn't be an issue- Amane, Miyuki, Chikaru, and even Shion tended to brush the fans away politely, without giving them too much hope. Unfortunately for Tsubomi, Yaya seemed to have taken it upon herself to become Astraea Hill's next Hanazono Shizuma.

So Tsubomi sat at the table they shared with Nagisa and Tamao, watching with all the patience of a spitting cobra as Yaya entertained fan after fan with her flirtatious antics. Of course, there was none of the familiarity that was there whenever Yaya did relatively the same things to Tsubomi, but the younger girl was very much the jealous type, and couldn't stop the sour taste from leaking into her mouth. If she had her way, she would just attach herself to Yaya's arm and ward off all the fangirls with her patented glare, but she didn't have the right.

Finally, when she couldn't bring herself to watch any longer, Tsubomi reached out and forcibly pulled Yaya away from a particularly overenthusiastic first year. Yaya turned to Tsubomi, confused, before taking in the younger girl's expression and smirking, wrapping her arms around Tsubomi's waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. "Ne, Tsubomi-chan," she said. Tsubomi's arms were folded over her chest, but under the circumstances, she didn't try to shove Yaya away. Since she technically couldn't display any possession over Yaya, the next best thing was to let them see how close their relationship was. "Are you jealous?"

_Can't you see that, baka?_

"Of course not!" Tsubomi scoffed. "Don't you think it's a little cruel to lead them on like that, though?"

Yaya shrugged. "Well, it's not like I have a girlfriend to tie me down," she said. "What if one of these girls has what it takes to win my heart and I just brush her away? Do you want that on your conscience, Tsubomi-chan?"

Tsubomi was tempted to tell Yaya to open her eyes and look _right in front of her_, but bit the comment back. "I'll survive," she muttered, poking at her food. Yaya didn't say anything else, but didn't let Tsubomi go, either. Nagisa looked on in shock as Tsubomi actually seemed to relax in Yaya's arms, while Tamao just wore a knowing expression.

Yaya sat like that the entire meal, not even touching her food. She hadn't had much of an appetite for more than a month now, and besides, she really didn't want to let go of Tsubomi, though she couldn't tell you why if you held a gun to her head. She just enjoyed the feeling of the smaller girl in her arms, relenting to the hold. _Not shoving me away and looking at me like I'm some kind of monster. _Instinctively, Yaya stiffened and her arms dropped from around Tsubomi as she recalled that night in vivid detail. She never wanted to see that look on someone else's face- never wanted to force herself on anyone else like that, especially not Tsubomi.

Tsubomi frowned and turned around only to find that Yaya was focusing entirely on her untouched food, and she deflated on the inside. Yaya was far from over Hikari.

**PGBR**

An hour later found Tsubomi sitting dejectedly by the lake, her head resting on her knees as she tossed a few rocks into the dark water. What had she been thinking, falling for someone like that? "She's so stupid," Tsubomi muttered to herself. "Stupid, annoying, doesn't even know how to give me my personal space." Despite her arguments against the older girl, a tear slid down Tsubomi's cheek. "Baka," she whispered. "Can't you see I love you?"

"Ara," a voice sounded to her right. "A love confession."

Tsubomi started and whipped her head around, only to meet the kind eyes of the Le Rim president, Minamoto Chikaru. "Is there something you needed from me, Minamoto-sama?"

Chikaru giggled. "Please, call me Chikaru," she said, sitting down on the river bank beside Tsubomi.

"Chikaru-sama," Tsubomi acknowledged absentmindedly, looking down at the ground.

Chikaru tilted her head towards the lake, watching the sun set from its reflection. "It's not fair for you to expect Nanto-san to understand how you feel, Tsubomi-chan," she said, seemingly out of nowhere. Tsubomi looked up at her with red eyes, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Sometimes people don't see things that are right in front of them," she explained, "especially when it comes to love. Nobody wants to get their hopes up if there's a chance they'll be crushed. And Nanto-san has already had her hopes crushed- I doubt she's up for a round two." Chikaru smiled kindly at Tsubomi.

"Like anyone would love that baka," Tsubomi muttered, blushing, but realizing that there was no fooling the president, sighed and lowered her head again. "How did you know?"

Chikaru tapped the side of her head with a sly smile. "I know things, Tsubomi-chan," she said mysteriously. Then she turned back to the lake, leaning against her hands from behind. "I've always been perceptive," she admitted, and, with a shy smile, added, "and I'm lucky that I am. I would have been waiting for Shion-chan for the better part of my life. She's so stubborn, but quite the romantic." Chikaru winked and giggled.

Tsubomi managed to nod before destiny inevitably kicked in and she fell sobbing into Chikaru's arms. With a sad smile, Chikaru wrapped her arms around the shaking girl's waist, rubbing her hand up and down Tsubomi's back. "I just…I love her so much!" Tsubomi whimpered into her chest. "And it's like she doesn't even see me! She's still in love with H-_Hikari _even though she'll never love her back and I'd be so much better for her. I'd appreciate her and I wouldn't push her away- I _want _her to kiss me and hold me and she _won't_ because she's still in love with her!"

Chikaru took a deep breath, running her fingers through Tsubomi's pink hair. "She does still have feelings for Konohana-san," she agreed. "Love doesn't disappear so quickly, I'm afraid. But I think that you shouldn't give up so easily, Tsubomi-chan. She looks at you differently, as well."

They lay there in silence for a few minutes before Tsubomi's tremors began to slow, and the pinkette raised her head to meet Chikaru's eyes. "Do you ever get tired of girls crying all over you, Chikaru-sama?" she asked weakly, her voice hoarse with the tears.

Chikaru smiled blissfully. "No," she said, "I don't like it when people are sad, so I do my best to cheer them up. I'm afraid I can't say the same for Shion-chan, however. She gets quite jealous, actually."

Tsubomi managed a weak smile. "That's not hard to imagine," she said.

"Mmm," Chikaru hummed. "No, but I don't need to imagine it, either. Hello, Shion-chan."

Tsubomi sat up instantly, and sure enough, the Spican president was standing only a few yards away, arms folded over her chest. "Sorry, Tomori-sama," she said hurriedly, taking a few steps back. Shion looked like she wanted to say something, but Chikaru had already made her way over to her blonde girlfriend and wrapped her arms around her neck. Shion melted like butter and leaned forward, tilting her head ever so slightly to receive a deep, apologetic kiss from her Chikaru.

Tsubomi looked away. While she only had feelings for Yaya, she couldn't help but feel another twinge at the fact that the two girls were so obviously in love, and could hold each other whenever they wanted. She was beginning to feel sick to her stomach from all the jealousy she'd had to endure that day.


	3. Chapter Two: You Belong With Me

Thanks so much for everyone's reviews! That's really what keeps me going when I'm writing these stories is knowing that people are enjoying them =) Anyway, here's Chapter Two, and I'm starting to branch out a tiny bit with other couples, but it's still mostly YayaXTsubomi. As always, read and review por favor! Enjoy!

two

You Belong With Me

"_And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town  
I haven't seen it in a while since she brought you down.  
You say you're fine- I know you better than that;  
Hey whatcha doing with a girl like that?__"_

_-Taylor Swift_

"Are you okay, Tsubomi-chan?"

Yaya glanced up from her music, her eyes landing on Hikari, who was frowning slightly as she inspected the younger girl.

"I'm fine, Hikari-sempai," Tsubomi said, slightly confused. "Why, do I look pale or something?"

Hikari shook her head. "Amane-sempai and I were walking around the lake last night and I saw you- well, Amane-sempai saw you- with Chikaru-sama. You were in her lap and you looked like you might have been crying."

At that moment, Yaya felt two major conflicting emotions that stemmed from two major questions: Why was Tsubomi crying, and _why _was she in Chikaru's lap? At the second question, Yaya felt an unwelcome yet sickly familiar emotion taking over her body, and decided to keep a closer eye on Chikaru. She'd already lost Hikari because she was careless enough to let Amane get close to her, and she wasn't about to lose Tsubomi to Chikaru.

_Wait, what?_

"Oh, that," Tsubomi was saying as Yaya tuned back in, still reeling from the shock of her newly discovered feelings. "It was nothing. I'm sorry for worrying you, Hikari-sempai."

"What about me?" Yaya asked, tackling Tsubomi from behind and grinning as the pinkette struggled against her hold. "You're not sorry for making _me _worry?"

The now thoroughly red Tsubomi managed a scoff. "As if you even noticed I was _gone_, with all your fangirls to entertain you."

"Jealousy is an ugly thing, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya sang into her ear, all the while pretending she couldn't see the raised eyebrow Hikari sent her. Hikari had known her for the better half of forever, and knew that while Tsubomi may wear her emotions on her sleeve and Yaya preferred to keep them locked away, it didn't mean that Yaya never got jealous. And Hikari had just witnessed such an action only moments before. _But who _hasn't _been jealous of Chikaru-sama at least once, with their girlfriends crying all over…wait, _girlfriend_?_

Realizations never hit Yaya gently- more often, they knocked her over the head with all the subtlety of a speeding train because she had gotten so good at hiding her feelings, even from herself. It should have been apparent weeks ago, when she first realized that she loved the feel of the small girl in her arms, loved the way Tsubomi was so cute when she got mad… _Which is more or less all the time_, she thought to herself, smiling. And then it hit her- she was falling in love again. Suddenly she was bombarded by memories of that night, of being shoved away by her best friend like she was some kind of monster, of that _distance _there was now. She unconsciously winced. She couldn't risk that kind of thing happening again. Not with Tsubomi.

Tsubomi watched helplessly, gritting her teeth as Yaya threw herself all over Hikari during dinner. The two had gradually begun getting just as close as before, and unfortunately Yaya wasn't about to miss an opportunity to cuddle her favorite glomptoy.

Every time she saw the two of them together, she couldn't help but think how well they _didn't _go together. Yaya was a gorgeous, flirtatious tomboy despite her very feminine body, and Hikari was a quiet, borderline antisocial girl, though becoming Etoile had helped a little bit with that. The bottom line was that while the fangirls may love Yaya's attention, Hikari would just as well wait until she was in the bedroom for any kind of affection, and Yaya just couldn't handle that. _And besides_, Tsubomi thought with a pout as she watched Yaya flirt blatantly with Hikari, _Yaya-sempai would be bored of her within a week._

Tsubomi had never really had any kind of crush on Hikari- she had looked up to her, yes, but the reason she had always been so nervous and jumpy around the best friends was because of Yaya, and the way the older girl would tease her to no end.

She averted her gaze after enduring the torture of watching the two for a few minutes and her eyes found Chikaru, who was sitting just a few tables away, conversing with Kaname for some reason. Tsubomi frowned- the last thing any halfway uke girl should be doing was talking with the girl alone, but then again, what did she know? And Chikaru always seemed like she'd be a freak in bed, anyway. She'd probably wear even Kaname out. Apparently, though, Shion seemed to have shared Tsubomi's initial thoughts on Chikaru talking to Kaname, and instantly made her way to her girlfriend's side, shooting a warning glare to her best girl as she wrapped her arms around Chikaru's waist.

"Whatcha lookin' at?"

Tsubomi jumped at the sudden weight on her back and the warm breath that had suddenly flooded her ear, causing her hormones to go into overdrive. "B-baka!" she cried, attempting to shove Yaya off, but the girl held tight, following Tsubomi's gaze.

Yaya made a face. "Of all the girls, Tsubomi-chan," she said in a somewhat disappointed manner, "Tomori-sama? Really?"

Tsubomi pouted, folding her arms over her chest and refusing to look at the older girl. Really, she wasn't attracted to Shion at all- she was a bit too tightly wound for Tsubomi's taste, but there was no harm in making Yaya think she liked someone else. "What's so weird about that?" she asked. "She's hard-working, and she's very pretty, too."

"She's _passionate_," Remon agreed. She and Kizuna had joined the group for lunch since Chikaru was always sitting by Shion these days. Kizuna frowned and glanced over at Shion, almost as if she were measuring her up.

Tsubomi nodded firmly. "Yeah, I mean, have you seen her at the student council meetings, the way she goes after something she really wants?" she asked, starting to get into her role. She was an excellent actress, after all.

Yaya scoffed from behind her. "Tomori-sama's got a stick permanently lodged up her ass," she muttered. Tsubomi frowned and looked up at Yaya, who looked sincerely disgruntled instead of playfully mocking, like she had a minute ago, and then to Hikari, who was actually wearing a _pleased _expression. "Dekochin."

Tsubomi turned and slapped Yaya's arm, but from the way the older girl's frown changed to a smirk almost instantly, she realized she didn't have much upper body strength, and her slap had only served to encourage Yaya once again. "What's your problem, Yaya-_chan_?" she asked, deliberately dropping the respective suffix. "Afraid of a little competition?" Yaya's smirk only widened.

"As if I would even _need _to compete for you," Yaya drawled, leaning back in her seat. "I've got you wrapped around my pinky finger."

Before an argument could break out, Chikaru and Shion appeared in front of them, Shion taking the open seat next to Hikari. "Etoile-san, a moment," she said, all business as usual. "We need to discuss the school festival."

Tsubomi didn't hear what she had said- she had only comprehended two things since the moment Shion had joined them. For one thing, Yaya hadn't said another word, not even for the sake of the argument. The bigger event was that the second the Spican president had arrived at the table, Yaya's playful demeanor had disappeared entirely, and the older girl hadn't let go of Tsubomi- if anything, her arms had tightened around the younger girl. She was about to tell Yaya to get off, but sealed her lips when she saw Yaya's expression- blank, except for her eyes that were narrowed just slightly, and directed at their student council president.

_Maybe it's not so hopeless after all_, Tsubomi thought to herself, _even if it is a bit stupid to get jealous of Tomori-sama, of all people._ As the minutes wore on and Shion made no sign of moving, Yaya didn't move either. Across the table, Chikaru shot Tsubomi an encouraging smile- Tsubomi barely registered it against the temptation to relax in Yaya's arms. If she did, there was a good chance that Yaya would pull away, as she had before. But there was also the chance that Yaya wouldn't pull away, and Tsubomi would get to stay that way for the rest of dinner, in Yaya's warm arms. Finally, Tsubomi gave up the weary battle of mind vs. body and slumped back against the older girl. Her body seemed to purr in contentment- she had never felt so safe and comfortable before in her life- and her heart skipped a beat as Yaya didn't pull away at all, and actually tightened her hold on Tsubomi, resting her head on top of the younger girl's.

Usually, such a situation would only happen between two people in a relationship, but Tsubomi knew better- this was Yaya-sempai, after all, the same girl who had treated her best friend like this for years without it ever becoming anything more. Still, Tsubomi would take what she could get.

That evening, Tamao and Nagisa hosted a tea party as usual. Tsubomi had snuck out with Chiyo, whom she was currently rooming with, much to Kagome's displeasure. Tsubomi was slightly offended by the girl's obvious lack of trust in Tsubomi's ability to keep her hands to herself. And around _Chiyo_, for God's sake.

"Why she thinks _I'm _trouble, with people like Yaya-sempai and Kaname-sempai around," she muttered under her breath- just this afternoon, she'd received a stern talking to from one very overprotective bear.

Chiyo shot her an apologetic look. "Gomenesai, Tsubomi-chan," she said. "I didn't know Kagome-chan could be so protective."

Tsubomi huffed and brushed off her words as they reached the correct dorm room and were invited in by Tamao.

Yaya and Hikari were already there. Hikari was talking animatedly to Nagisa, while Yaya seemed content to watch her best friend being so happy and free for once since all the drama started.

Tsubomi watched, torn, as Hikari turned to Yaya for just a moment, and Yaya treated her to the most dazzling, devoted smile Tsubomi had ever seen. Her heart ached, because it was _Hikari _who had received the smile, and for what? Abandoning Yaya for some man-girl who loved a horse more than she loved Hikari? On the other hand, Yaya had the most beautiful smile- her eyes lit up and somewhere in the galaxy, a star was outshined. It was Tsubomi's favorite part of her, and she hadn't seen it for what felt like forever since Hikari had pushed her away that night.

Tsubomi wanted Yaya to smile, she did- she just wanted Yaya to smile for _her_.

"Ne, Tsubomi-chan, what's with that face?" Yaya asked, poking at Tsubomi's red, puffed-out cheeks with a toothy grin as Tsubomi turned and aimed her angry expression towards her. "You look like a chipmunk."

Tsubomi growled and whipped her head away from the smirking Yaya, her arms folded tightly over her chest. Once she was facing away from the group, her face fell and she swallowed hard- she couldn't stand to see the way Yaya was still so in love with Hikari, especially now that she'd come to terms with her feelings.

She was unable to avoid the gasp that escaped her mouth when a pair of warm arms snaked around her waist- she was used to Yaya grabbing her at random times, but she had never done it so…gently. "Tsubomi-chan? Are you alright?" Yaya asked, resting her head on the pinkette's shoulder and gazing up at her with those beautiful eyes, full of concern.

Tsubomi flushed. "Of course I am," she said. "What makes you think I'm not?"

Yaya shrugged and let go of Tsubomi, turning back to face Hikari again, and Tsubomi mentally slapped herself for not keeping Yaya occupied. She folded her arms over her chest and sulked for the rest of the tea party.

"What's going on with Yaya-chan and Tsubomi-chan?"

Tamao rolled her eyes playfully at Nagisa's question. "A better question would be, Nagisa-chan, what _isn't _going on with them?" She ran her fingers gently through her dense friend's red hair, enjoying the feeling.

Nagisa tilted her head, confused. Her eyes were focused on the two Spicans who were sitting side by side. Yaya seemed happy enough, but what struck Nagisa as odd was that the happier Yaya got, the less happy Tsubomi became.

"Na-gi-sa-chan."

"Eh?" Nagisa turned to face a gently smiling Tamao, who pulled her slightly away from the rest of the group.

"I have a theory," Tamao said, "but it's a secret, okay, Nagisa-chan?" Nagisa nodded reverently, causing Tamao to giggle. "Okay then. Take a closer look at Yaya-chan- _why _is she happy?"

Nagisa frowned for a moment, watching Yaya. "Because…she and Hikari are getting along again?"

Tamao nodded. "Exactly," she said. "Now, look at Tsubomi-chan. Why is she unhappy?" This was a bit harder to see, so Tamao decided to point Nagisa in the right direction, putting her hands on the girl's shoulders and stepping behind her. Ever since the short-lived relationship with Shizuma had ended, the two had been closer than ever, and Tamao was more hopeful than ever before. "What is she looking at, Nagisa-chan?" Tamao whispered in Nagisa's ear, pleased to see the girl shiver slightly.

Nagisa squinted slightly at the two girls- Yaya was now in the middle of clinging to Hikari, and Tsubomi looked more feral than ever, her topaz eyes narrowed in…Hikari's direction? "No one hates Hikari-chan, though," Nagisa mumbled.

"Mmm," Tamao hummed. "Sometimes, one can't help but hate the most loveable person…if that person steals their sun." Her eyes fell for a moment, remembering the feeling all too well. She had tried so hard to like Shizuma at first- she'd put up with her for as long as she could, and the only thing harder than that had been to actually push Nagisa into her arms.

Nagisa tilted her head, confused for a moment. Then her eyes flickered from Hikari to Yaya to Tsubomi and back to Yaya, and her mind clicked. "Oh," she said quietly. "Then Tsubomi-chan likes…"

Tamao nodded.

"You really are a poet, aren't you, Tamao-chan?"


	4. Chapter Three: Here In Your Arms

**Okay, so because I just HAD to say this- I was reading this rant-thingy on deviant art that I somehow came across from this VERY anti-Yaoi/Yuri person. The whole thing was basically: It's wrong to put two characters who aren't into each other together for the sake of your sick, pornographic fantasies (not actual wording, but all of these words were DEFINITELY said repeatedly through the whole thing). And then they're like, 'Don't Like, Don't Read' works just about as well as 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'. So what are we supposed to do? Stifle talent and creativity because some bitch thinks fanfiction is for CANON pairings alone? Hello, it was INVENTED for making up other things. Oh, and the funniest thing was that she was SO caught up on the PORNOGRAPHIC detail that ALL Yaoi/Yuri OBVIOUSLY exploits and I was just like, dude…have you ever actually READ any of this? I mean seriously. It's not all porn. Like, your opinion is fine and all, but so is ours. Saying you don't agree is fine, but saying we should take our stuff off the internet because YOU'RE too stupid to hit the back button when you see 'Don't Like, Don't Read' is going against the freedom of speech. I mean seriously, what can we do other than say, if you don't like it, don't read it? People aren't going to stop posting just because you pitch a bitch-fit every time you KNOWINGLY read a piece of slash.**

**Ahem.**

**Anyway, just had to get that off my chest xD**

**Enjoy this next chapter and thank you for all your reviews and support for my story =) **

three

Here (In Your Arms)

_Well you are the one,_

_The one who lies close to me._

_Whispers 'Hello, I missed you quite terribly'_

_I fell in love, in love with you suddenly,_

_Now there's nowhere else I could be_

_But here in your arms._

_-Hellogoodbye_

"Woo! We're going on a road trip!"

"To the mountains," Tsubomi grumbled as she watched Yaya jump around in excitement. Tsubomi was carrying a suitcase that was bigger than she was, and she was shivering, even in her sweater. "In _November_. What kind of class trip _is_ this?"

"The kind where there's no school, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya replied, grinning and poking Tsubomi's nose with her pointer finger. "No homework, no teachers, no classes for a whole _week_!"

Tsubomi had to admit, the prospect was tempting. There had only been a certain number of spaces available for the trip, and she hadn't been planning on going at first. But she had overheard Hikari talking about going, and since she wasn't sure if Amane would be there to take up her time, Tsubomi had no choice but to go along. It wasn't like she could do anything if something happened between Yaya and Hikari anyway, but something inside her had growled at the thought of leaving the two alone together.

"Aw, someone's grumpy," Yaya cooed, grabbing Tsubomi from behind, smirking as the younger girl struggled against her. Tsubomi was finding it harder and harder to pretend she didn't like Yaya holding her, but she couldn't let the older girl know how she felt. Not yet, at least, and maybe not ever.

**PGBR**

Yaya sat between Hikari and Tsubomi, feeling almost torn, as if she were split between the two. It was a strange sensation, and an unpleasant one, and she was trying to make sense of what it meant as they waited for the bus to come for them.

To her right, Hikari was glancing around every few seconds- she was looking for Amane, Yaya knew, and strangely, it didn't upset her nearly as much as it would have only a month before. She just sat back and let it happen, turning her gaze to her left.

Tsubomi was sitting there beside her immense suitcase (Yaya had laughed so hard when she first saw it, claiming that the suitcase dwarfed the pinkette. Actually, it was kind of cute), her arms folded over her chest and her cheeks pink, though this time it was from the cold instead of Yaya's teasing. "Are you sure that sweater's thick enough?" she asked without thinking.

Tsubomi glanced up and scowled at her. "Of course it is," she huffed. "At least I thought to bring _something _warm to wear." Her eyes roamed disapprovingly over Yaya's outfit- the traditional Spica uniform. "Yaya-senpai needs to take better care of herself."

Yaya's smirk widened as Tsubomi blushed from the indirect display of concern, and an idea occurred to her. "Tsu-bo-mi-chan," she sang sweetly, wrapping her arms around the blushing girl's waist. "I didn't need to bring a sweater, because I knew my Tsubomi-chan would keep me warm."

Tsubomi growled in defiance, but didn't make too much of an effort to escape. "I'm not your Tsubomi-chan," she muttered, directing her eyes down at the ground. There was something more to the way she said the words- disappointment, maybe? Disregarding it for the moment, Yaya absently rubbed her hands down Tsubomi's arms- the girl was actually shaking quite hard, or at least harder than was apparent by just glancing at her. Something inside Yaya purred in triumph when Tsubomi gave up her weak struggle and slumped back in her arms.

To her right, Yaya caught Hikari fixing her with a very un-Hikari-like sly smile, as if she knew something Yaya didn't.

But Yaya already did know- she knew she was on her way to getting over Hikari, and she knew that the person she was slowly falling for was the pinkette in her arms. She just didn't know how to let Tsubomi know of her feelings, or if she should at all. Whether she still had feelings for Hikari or not, she didn't think she could handle a repeat of that night.

When the bus arrived, Tsubomi got up to rid herself of her suitcase, and Hikari took the opportunity to pull Yaya away from the crowd of girls.

"You like Tsubomi-chan," Hikari said bluntly, a proud smile adorning her features for figuring it out by herself. Yaya pursed her lips and folded her arms over her chest, but didn't deny it. "That's why you got so jealous of Shion-sama when Tsubomi was talking about her, right? And why you keep trying to hug her and argue with her less."

"We are not arguing less," Yaya stated firmly. "She's still an obnoxious, big-headed brat."

"Yeah, that you love," Hikari retorted without hesitation. "And if I were you, Yaya-chan, I'd get on the bus now, before someone else sits next to 'your' Tsubomi." Hikari's features were lit in a gentle smile- she was the only person Yaya knew who could beat the sense into someone and at the same time look so innocent.

Yaya frowned and turned to find that Hikari hadn't been exaggerating- the pinkette wasn't exactly unpopular, and was already conversing with a group of older girls who seemed to find her oh-so-adorable. Yaya wasn't the jealous type due to her nature, but she didn't like the way the girls were treating Tsubomi like she was public property. Which, technically, she still was, but Yaya hoped to change that before the end of the trip.

"Ne, Tsubomi-chan," she said as she approached the group, flinging her arms around Tsubomi in the process. She smirked at the group's disappointed faces and squeezed Tsubomi a little tighter, just to rub it in a bit. "Let's go find somewhere to sit."

Tsubomi puffed out her cheeks and folded her arms over her chest, turning away from Yaya. "And what if I don't want to sit with you?"

"Aw, does Tsubomi-chan want to sit with her Hikari-senpai?"

A low growl rumbled from the small girl's chest, making Yaya grin and squeeze tighter- Tsubomi was so adorable. Grumbling, the pinkette led the two of them into the bus and over to a seat close to the front of the bus, since most of the girls were already on board.

**PGBR**

Tsubomi's head was pressed against the frosty window of the bus as she stared down at the tiny cars below them, trying to keep her mind off of the situation in general. She didn't like travelling long distances, and she so cold she was starting to fear that she had contracted frostbite. Tsubomi had always gotten cold easily, and preferred the hot to the cold when she had a choice. Beside her, Yaya looked completely at ease, and Tsubomi was reminded of the one plus of the whole situation.

Yaya had come up to her and asked- no, demanded, more like- that they sit together, all the while with her arms draped over Tsubomi. Anyone else and Tsubomi would have taken it as a territorial display for the girls who had been fawning over her, but that was just normal Yaya. Still, it was nice that Yaya had chosen her, even though it was probably only because Hikari was sitting with Amane.

_Second choice is better than not a choice at all_, Tsubomi continually reminded herself. She jumped as she was startled out of her half-daydream by a finger pressing into her cheek. She looked up and scowled at the grinning culprit. "What do you want, Yaya-senpai?" she asked grumpily.

"Nothing, nothing," Yaya said, leaning back and shrugging. "Geez. I just thought you might be cold, leaning your head against that frozen window."

Well, she _was _cold, but Yaya didn't need to know that.

"Why would I be cold?" Tsubomi retorted. "You're the baka who didn't bring any kind of jacket or sweater."

"Hai, hai," Yaya conceded, and suddenly flung an arm over Tsubomi's shoulders. "So you'll just have to keep me warm."

"G-get off!" Tsubomi cried, shrugging away from Yaya and trying to act angry, even though she wished she could have stayed pressed up against the older girl. "Baka! Pick someone else to be your personal heater!"

"Someone else like…Hikari-chan?" Yaya asked with a teasing smile. Tsubomi's heart dropped and she turned to the window, unable to keep the sadness off of her face.

"Yeah," she muttered. "As long as it's not me."

There was silence for a few minutes as Tsubomi stared out the window, glaring at the world, and Yaya sat back in the next seat, her legs propped ungracefully against the seat in front of her. Then, "Tsubomi-chaaan…"

Tsubomi grunted.

"Hikari's not as soft and comfy as Tsubomi-chan," Yaya continued. Tsubomi turned, face flaming, to find Yaya sitting back with her eyes closed, the beginnings of a smirk apparent on her face.

"Shut up!" she hissed. "Someone will hear you, and do you want the whole school to think we're….that we're…"

"That we're what?" Yaya asked, opening one eye that glinted playfully at Tsubomi.

"Nothing," Tsubomi muttered, folding her arms tighter over her chest and yawning involuntarily- the monotonous rumble of the engine was putting her to sleep. She blinked several times before the world started to become blurry, and she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.

**PGBR**

What seemed like a second later, Tsubomi jerked awake, blinking furiously as the bright gray sky entered her tired eyes. The first thing she comprehended was that she wasn't cold anymore, quickly followed by the fact that she wasn't pressed against the hard glass window of the bus. In fact, she was quite warm, and her head seemed to be pillowed against something softer than she'd ever felt before.

It took Tsubomi approximately five seconds from that point to put two and two together and leap away from Yaya so quickly that she hit her head against the glass window. She sunk back in her chair, nursing her sore head. "Owowowow…"

Then she glanced over at Yaya to see the older girl's reaction, thinking she must have been asleep as well to allow Tsubomi to do something like that. But Yaya was apparently wide awake, though her eyes were slightly foggy as she buried her nose in the crook of her elbow and sneezed violently. Then she blinked, her eyes focusing on Tsubomi, who seemed to be in a state of catatonic shock, and, to the pinkette's immense confusion, smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I woke you," she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Sorry you…you knew I was…_what_?" Tsubomi asked, unable to form a fluid thought in her shock.

Yaya frowned slightly, her head tilted to one side. "Well your head was on my chest, I should hope I knew that," she said slowly, a smirk growing despite her confusion. "I never knew Tsubomi-chan was so clingy, though."

"I'm not _clingy_," Tsubomi insisted with a raging blush. "And if you didn't mind, why'd you have to wake me up?" She checked her laptop for the time and growled. "We still have two more hours!"

Yaya raised her hands in mock submission. "I couldn't help that I needed to sneeze," she said. "It's your own fault for being such a light sleeper. And why are you mad at _me _anyway? You're the one who fell asleep on me."

"Because…," Tsubomi began, struggling for an excuse other than 'When I'm embarrassed, I act mad'. "Because you were too stupid to bring a jacket!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"If you had brought a jacket, you wouldn't have been cold and you wouldn't have sneezed and I wouldn't have woken up!"

Yaya threw back her head and laughed, much to Tsubomi's displeasure. The pinkette sank back in her seat, arms folded over her chest, and cheeks puffed out. Her eyes widened as she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist and pull her back. "Then you should just go back to sleep," Yaya said, guiding a beet-red Tsubomi back to her previous position with her head resting against her generous chest.

**PGBR**

Yaya's fingers absentmindedly stroked the sleeping Tsubomi's arm as she gazed down at the pinkette. She looked so sweet when she was sleeping- Tsubomi was usually such a spitfire that the calm expression on her face was almost alarming.

Yaya thought back to the way her body had seemed to growl in displeasure when she watched Tsubomi around those other girls and heard about Chikaru and Shion, and she threw her head back to face the ceiling in frustration. _What's going on with me? I need to make Tsubomi-chan mine soon, or else I'm going to go insane. _She was lucky Tsubomi was so tired, or else her actions just a few minutes ago would have been a dead giveaway for her feelings.

"Yaya…senpai…"

Yaya's eyes went wide and her head snapped towards the pinkette, who was still fast asleep, but had adjusted herself so her arms were wrapped tightly around Yaya's waist, one leg resting on Yaya's.

From across the way, Hikari sent Yaya an encouraging smile and Yaya simply smirked- she was _so _giving Tsubomi hell for this when the pinkette woke up. But for now, she leaned down and pressed a kiss to the girl's hair before pulling out her iPod and slumping back in the seat, one hand placed on Tsubomi's waist. "Who knew you were such a cuddler, when you're like a ticking bomb awake," Yaya murmured.


	5. Chapter Four: Kiss The Girl

**I'm back with a new chapter! Since you guys have all been sending me such great reviews and inspiring me to continue writing this and I'm starting to feel bad for not replying, I'm gonna start replying to them in this part of my posts…I was gonna send messages but I haven't worked out like, ANYTHING from this site except the story part. So yeah. Thanks so much for your support and enthusiasm!**

**Kaizer20: I just couldn't help posting about that chick- it was kinda funny to read actually xD And I'm not sure about sex scenes yet (as in I haven't written any out) but it IS Yaya, so hopefully I'll be able to do it justice when the time comes ;)**

**Kaname-Momomi-Stalker: Thanks =)**

**Kaze Rei: Thanks xD I decided it was the perfect way to introduce the new chapter xD And I'm guessing you're talking about how Yaya's getting over Hikari? If not, sorry :P But yeah, I agree with that. I mean, I've TRIED to imagine WHY Hikari loves Amane so much but all I ever come up with is that one of these days she's gonna wake up and be like 'OMG Amane's a GIRL and lesbians go to hell (in the religion of her school)'. **

**Kamakazi Anon: WOW! That WAS the review of my life xD I'm glad you like all my stories, it really means a lot to me. And I was trying to go for the whole 'after anime' feel, so I'm really glad it worked out that way. I always like the fics that do that, because I think the anime left A LOT of loose ends. Sorry to say, but there will definitely be a defined period of Yaya-Angst (as I've officially named it) later on, but I promise it won't be too long of a section. I mean, it's Yaya- angst is kinda what she DOES (other than being the second sexiest character on the show. CHIKARU FTW). **

**Nao-Sama: I'm glad you liked the banter- it's pretty fun to write, too xD Also, I actually kinda forgot who I was writing about when I made Hikari so blunt (it was a lot worse before I fixed it). I hope it didn't get too OOC, because let's face it, she doesn't have much more of a personality than Amane. I think the reason people like her more is because she's prettier maybe? I don't even know xP Also, I figured Yaya would probably be the absolute last to catch on, possibly even after Nagisa (even without Tamao's help).**

**RomanticVulcanolight: Thanks, I'm glad =)**

**Chiyo and Osaka Fan: She is, isn't she? xD I got the idea because of something someone told me when I was with my EX boyfriend, because I'm pretty shy and don't usually do public affection well, but I was just like that with him. I kinda thought Tsubomi was the type, and who could blame her? I mean, it's **_**Yaya **_**xD**

**Silent Shawdow: Thanks =)**

**Wow, that was the fastest page and a half I've ever written xD Again, thanks for the wonderful reviews and just out of curiosity, is it just me, or is 'Yaya' like, a really dumb name? It sounds okay when you think about the character without really analyzing it, but try thinking about the name by itself…weird, am I right?**

**four**

**Kiss the Girl**

_Sha-la-la-la-la-la_

_My oh my,_

_Looks like the boy's too shy,_

_Ain't gonna kiss the girl._

_Sha-la-la-la-la-la_

_Ain't that sad?_

_It's just a shame- too bad,_

_You're gonna miss that girl!_

_-Ashley Tisdale (Originally from The Little Mermaid)_

"Why am I stuck rooming with the crybaby while Hikari-senpai is with Yaya-senpai?" Tsubomi muttered, forcefully unpacking her belongings. "And after all that progress on the bus…"

"Ano…," Chiyo began uncertainly, "Tsubomi-chan? Do you…like Yaya-senpai?"

Under normal circumstances, Tsubomi would have denied it- she would have denied it, and then yelled at Chiyo for even imagining such a thing was possible. But this was different- it was time to pull out the big guns. If Yaya was sleeping in the same room as Hikari, who knows what could happen? Surely, Hikari liking someone else had never stopped her before. "And is there a problem with that?" she huffed instead to Chiyo, who instantly shook her head.

"No, I just…," she started, "I just thought maybe you would want to switch rooms with Hikari-senpai. You know, since the rules aren't so strict on this trip."

Tsubomi's eyes widened as she took in the possibility- and then her face fell again. "Yaya-senpai would never agree to that," she muttered. "Even if she did let me sleep on her, she'd much rather be with Hikari-senpai. And besides, I'm supposed to hate Yaya-senpai, remember?"

"Oshibaru says no one buys that anymore except you and Yaya-senpai."

Both girls turned to the door to find Kagome standing there, clutching Oshibaru to her chest. The young girl stepped into the room and placed the bear on Chiyo's bed, coming up behind the Miator girl and wrapping her arms around Chiyo instead. She placed her head on Chiyo's shoulder and looked blankly up at Tsubomi. Chiyo was blushing like a tomato, and Tsubomi wondered if that was how she looked whenever she was around Yaya.

Tsubomi looked on unsympathetically- Kagome obviously wanted her to leave, and Tsubomi wasn't sure she wanted to find out what happened when the quiet Le Rim girl got mad. "Well, I've got to go do…stuff," Tsubomi said in a disinterested voice, throwing a wave after her as she left the room. "Have fun with…" She eyed Oshibaru hesitantly. "You know…whatever…"

The two girls watched the pinkette leave, Chiyo with a worried expression and Kagome with her trademark blank stare. "I'm worried about her," Chiyo admitted. "She's never so…tame."

"Mmm," Kagome hummed, pressing her cheek against Chiyo's and looking down at her bear. "Oshibaru says she'll be okay. Tsubomi-san is just jealous of the time Yaya-senpai spends with Hikari-senpai."

Chiyo frowned. "Well, that's dumb," she said in a surprisingly uncharacteristic tone. "Anyone with eyes can see that Yaya-senpai favors her. Hikari-senpai is her best friend, that's all."

"'Just friends' leaves room for suspicion," Kagome intoned mildly, as if it was a well-known fact. "Like Nagisa and Tamao are just friends. Like you and Tsubomi-san are just friends."

Chiyo frowned and turned in Kagome's arms. "We _are_," she said, confused and slightly offended. "First of all, we have no feelings for each other and second, even if we did, we'd be horrible together. Can't you just see it? The crybaby and the tsundere?" She shuddered. Around Kagome, Chiyo was far more vocal than usual, mainly because Kagome actually listened to her.

Kagome shrugged. "But when you spend so much time together…," she said, trailing off blankly.

"You're not jealous…are you, Kagome-chan?" Chiyo asked, sitting down on the bed beside Oshibaru. It was always so hard for her to read her girlfriend's emotions, but Chiyo had picked up on enough by this point to know that for some reason or another, Kagome didn't approve of her and Tsubomi being close. "I mean, what I said was serious, Tsubomi-chan and I would be a disaster."

Kagome nodded slowly and bent down to give Chiyo a sweet kiss before climbing onto the bed beside her. "Oshibaru agrees," she said, then pulled Chiyo down so that the Miator girl was lying flat on her back. "A disaster." Chiyo nodded, and a hint of a smile flickered over Kagome's face as she leaned down and kissed her again, her caramel hair falling over their faces.

"Even Chiyo-chan's getting some," Tsubomi muttered, disgusted, as she headed for the lounge of the cabin they were staying in.

"I know how you feel." Tsubomi glanced down to see Tamao smiling up at her from her position on the couch- Nagisa had gorged herself on sweets and was currently comatose against the bluenette's arm. "It's nice, but it's not enough, is it?" Tamao continued, running her fingers through Nagisa's ponytail. "I don't know how to tell her I want more, even after all this time."

Tsubomi was about to reply when…

"Yo, pinker!"

Tsubomi heaved an exaggerated sigh and turned to face a grinning Yaya as Tamao giggled behind her. "What do _you _want?" she asked, folding her arms over her chest.

Yaya raised an eyebrow. "That's tough talk coming from someone who used me as their personal teddy bear for the entire bus ride," she commented, taking a step closer to Tsubomi, who was now pressed against the back of the couch. Yaya placed a hand on either side of the smaller girl. "Want to try that again?"

Tsubomi glared at her with everything she had. "You're not intimidating, Yaya-c_han_."

"What do you mean, I'm not intimidating? You're the one with your back against the couch!"

"You're the one who makes girls cry with your kissing technique," Tsubomi shot back, only realizing her mistake after the words left her mouth. But Yaya only smirked and stepped closer, causing Tsubomi to take a step back and fall over the back of the couch.

"Grace, charm, and beauty, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya sang as Tsubomi struggled to turn right-side up on the couch. She grabbed the younger girl's ankles, preventing her from doing just that. "Say 'uncle'."

"How about 'get a room' instead?" Kaname volleyed from her seat in the armchair. Not a convincing argument from a girl with a gorgeous girl sprawled across her lap, but it was enough to cause Tsubomi to go from bright red to an unhealthy shade of blue and dart out of the room as Yaya temporarily released her.

There was silence for a few moments as Yaya watched her go, and then the fourth year turned to face Kaname with a venomous expression. Momomi leapt off of Kaname's lap as her girlfriend stood to match Yaya's glare. From the sidelines, cheers of "Fight! Fight!", "Go Yaya-senpai!" and "Defend your turf!" could be heard from a certain pair of Le Rim students.

Kaname raised her eyebrow. "What do you say, Nanto-san?" she asked quietly, taking a step forward. "Going to fight me?"

From the couch opposite them, Shion tensed and began to stand, but was easily tamed by Chikaru gently easing her back down onto the couch. The Le Rim president shifted into Shion's lap to make sure the Spican didn't try and interfere. "Give them a moment, Shi-chan," she murmured, and Shion reluctantly complied, pressing her lips to Chikaru's neck instead.

Yaya didn't step down as Kaname approached her. When she finally spoke, Kaname was only several feet away. "You tried to hurt Hikari," she began, "and I stopped you. I didn't hurt you, but it was a warning, Kenjou-san."

Kaname sneered. "I didn't do shit to your precious pink friend, Nanto-san," she said, folding her arms over her chest.

"No, but you made her uncomfortable," Yaya said. "I can't do anything to you because of that, but I figured I should get this out of the way before you _do _try anything." She let her words sink in for a moment before continuing. "If you _ever _touch a hair on her head, I swear to God, you won't ever _want _to touch another girl again. You stay away from her, Kaname. That includes pulling the kind of thing you did tonight."

Kaname leered at her, but her face had paled considerably, and she stayed there for a moment longer before turning away and going back to Momomi. Yaya turned and headed after Tsubomi.

_I can't keep this up much longer- they'd be blind not to know how I feel about her now. It's only a matter of time before one of them runs their mouth- she should hear it from you._

Tsubomi was lying under the covers of her bed, curled up like a ball and mentally chastising herself a hundred times over. She had never been a fan of PDA, and Kaname's outburst made her realize exactly what the situation had looked like to the rest of the girls. The worst part was that she figured it would have been okay if it were true.

A knock came at her door, and Tsubomi burrowed deeper underneath the covers. "Go away," she muttered. "I'm sleeping."

When the door creaked open anyway, Tsubomi knew exactly who was coming to see her. "Doesn't sound like it to me," Yaya's teasing voice replied. "Even though you do talk in your sleep- 'Oh, Hikari-senpai, I-"

She was interrupted by the pillow Tsubomi aimed at her face. The pinkette smiled when it hit the mark. "If there's anyone with an unhealthy obsession for Hikari-senpai, it's you, Yaya-senpai."

Tsubomi felt Yaya's presence beside her on the bed more than she actually felt the mattress dip beneath the older girl. "Did it bother you?" she asked in an uncharacteristically nervous voice.

"Did what bother me?" Tsubomi frowned, afraid she was about to be asked a question she _really _didn't want to answer, given her previous remark.

"What Kenjou-san said," Yaya continued, obviously wanting to keep it short. Her eyes weren't glinting playfully for a change, and her posture was tense. Tsubomi sat up.

"You really don't like her, do you?" she asked, tilting her head. It didn't surprise her that Yaya wasn't fond of her- she didn't seem like the type of girl who enjoyed being molested. But Tsubomi had caught a glimpse of Yaya's face just before she darted out of the room, and it seemed to her that Yaya held a deep-seated dislike for Kaname that extended beyond any other girl on Astraea Hill, with the possible exception of Hikari. But she never held a grudge anyway.

Yaya's jaw seemed to tighten, and she looked away from Tsubomi, her dark hair shielding her face from view. "No," she finally said. "I hate Kenjou-san. For what she did in the name of Spica, for what she did to Hikari- I'll do anything to keep her away from you." Yaya turned back to Tsubomi and smiled wryly. "Is it so strange that I can't stand her? That I want to protect you from her?"

Tsubomi just stared at her for a moment- there was a fluttering in her chest, like she was going to burst open and a thousand butterflies would just pour out of her, and they were blocking her air passage. She swallowed down the lump in her throat as her heart rate escalated to dangerous heights. "Yaya-senpai," she said, her voice choked by the sensations pulsing through her body.

With half-lidded eyes and a severe lack of oxygen flow to her obviously malfunctioning brain, Tsubomi sat forward and flung her arms around Yaya's neck, pulling the older girl down to her level in a tight embrace. Turning her head to the side, she realized that Yaya's lips were only a breath from her own. She paused, finding herself at a loss of what to do next. Yaya hesitated for a moment, her eyes wide with surprise, before they fluttered shut and she pressed her lips into Tsubomi's, pulling the younger girl flush against her in the heat of the moment.

Tsubomi found herself completely relenting to Yaya's hold and returned the kiss with passion, tightening her arms around Yaya's neck. The only noise in the room was the escalated breathing of the two girls, but Tsubomi's pulse echoed in her ears so loudly she saw stars. Yaya pressed further into her, causing them both to fall back on the bed. The older girl didn't miss a step, and pinned Tsubomi down, never breaking from the passionate lip lock as their fingers intertwined above Tsubomi's head.

Yaya's legs were positioned on either side of Tsubomi's body, making it easy for the older girl to claim dominance. Tsubomi hadn't put up any resistance either way- in Yaya's arms, all her fire seemed to melt away. She liked the way Yaya stole her control from her- liked the way she didn't know what exactly was coming next.

The girls shared a final, deep kiss before slowly breaking away. Yaya hovered over her, only a few centimeters farther from Tsubomi than she had been a moment before. She was grinning, though it was warm and sincere instead of her usual teasing smirk. Her eyes gave away the slight nervousness she was feeling. "So, Tsubomi-chan," she said softly, brushing a strand of pink hair from Tsubomi's eyes with a shaking hand. "Did that make you want to cry?"

Tsubomi opened her mouth to answer but found herself at a lack of words from the look in Yaya's eyes. It was so hollow; she was so _scared, _she didn't know what she had just done. The smile was gone, replaced by a shocked, pained expression that made Tsubomi's heart break in her chest.

Suddenly the door clicked and Tsubomi started, jumping away from Yaya just as the door swung open to reveal Chiyo.

"Are you okay, Tsubomi-chan?" she asked, her voice full of concern. "Kenjou-sama was really out of line back there, but Yaya-senpai was going to put her in her place for you. It was actually kind of scar- oh! Yaya-senpai?"

Yaya grinned and waved at Chiyo as she stood up, already recovered from whatever had come over her. "I should probably get back to my room anyway," she said, "before they think I died or something and Ootori decides she can sneak in for the night…"

"Yaya-senpai!" Tsubomi cried, obviously shocked. "Show _some _respect!"

Yaya's lip curled up in a sarcastic sneer. "I have no respect for that…for that person," she stated firmly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Tsubomi-chan." And with that, she left, leaving Chiyo standing in the doorway, confused, and Tsubomi sitting on the bed with a nasty lump in her throat.

"I'm sorry, did I…?"

Tsubomi shook her head dully. "No," she said. "I mean, maybe...I don't know. She just…we _kissed_, you know? But she obviously still has feelings for Hikari-senpai. That's why she was talking about Ootori-sama like that."

Chiyo frowned slightly as she came into the room. "I don't think it's like that, Tsubomi-chan," she said. "I don't think Yaya-senpai even associates Ootori-sama with Hikari-senpai anymore. She's probably just unconsciously decided not to like her because of that incident."

Tsubomi sighed. Chiyo was so innocent it almost made her sick to her stomach. "I'm going to take a bath," she announced, walking into the bathroom and locking the door behind her.


	6. Chapter Five: Just The Way You Are

**Kaizer20 (first by request xD): I tried to make Kagome as in-character as possible while not overly so- I just can't see her in a relationship while she's glued to Oshibaru. And they did kiss =D But unfortunately that's not the end of the Yaya-Angst.**

**Silent Shawdow: They did xD I was never really good with prolonging things and making them all angsty…which is why the necessary Yaya-angst is probably going to be REALLY short lived xD**

**Kaname-Momomi-Stalker: To each their own, right? I like Kaname and Momomi too- a lot more than a lot of the other cast, actually. Especially Momomi, probably just because she's pretty and sneaky and all that xD. I just figured Yaya was bound to give it to her one of these days and Kaname wasn't really expecting her to lash out like that, so she got caught off-guard or whatever.**

**Kaze Rei: That scene with Yaya and Kaname actually didn't sound right to me, either, but I just couldn't seem to get it right xP. Like I said previously, I figured Kaname would be shocked, and I kinda gave up on trying to make it more realistic xP. I've been beating myself up over that scene because I'm pretty bad with that kind of thing…but I figure if anyone ever COULD do it, it'd probably be Yaya…the girl doesn't really try to hold anything back but love…And yes, Chiyo…I honestly felt sorry for her during the anime, because let's be honest, Chiyo/Nagisa was never going to happen xD I kinda tried to make her supporting, but still naïve and…Chiyo-like…at the same time.**

**Kamakazi Anon: Trust me, the story isn't coming to an end JUST yet…it's about halfway through what I have written already, and I'm still writing more =) Obviously Yaya still has some issues to work out, so a few chapters'll be dealing with them. Actually, for anyone who wants to help and sees this, I usually have trouble after the initial angst of a relationship- if any of you have anything you'd like to see happen after they get settled as a couple, PLEASE let me know! **

**Komuro: Thanks =)**

**Nao-Sama: My thoughts exactly! I know I'm probably (definitely)biased, but all Amane really did was be the most boring character in all of anime. Not only did Hikari break Yaya's heart, but in the anime, she practically forgot about poor Yaya and didn't even TRY to make time for her BEST friend who'd been her freaking protector. I mean, at least Nagisa TRIED to spend time with Tamao (even though she's really too dense to notice Tamao's feelings). For that, I hate Hikari. I mean, Yaya is the most awesome character on that show. Other than what she did to Hikari (which actually WASN'T that bad, contrary to what most people seem to think), she's only ever had Hikari's happiness in mind. She even helped Hikari with Amane at first. Poor Yaya, cursed to love stupid, straight-as-a-ruler Hikari. **

**Thank you to all my reviewers! I've updated early this time just to celebrate the high number of reviews I've gotten just for this chapter. You probably all know this already, but it's really your reviews that keep us writers going, at least for me it is.**

**So I've just recently come to the very disconcerting conclusion that I ALWAYS root for the underdog/non-con/beta couples. Tsubomi/Yaya, Nagisa/Tamao, Haruka/Yukino (Mai Hime), Nao/Whoever Cuz Nao's a Fecking PIMP, Faberry, and so on. Even in AGATB by Libba Bray, I liked a canon couple FINALLY (Pippicity), and the girl freaking DIES. I mean, she totally deserved it by that point, but still. It's a curse, I tell you. It doesn't matter who it is; if it's femslash and an impossible/no action pairing, I WILL fall in love with it. Startling, isn't it? Even in Girl Friends, I preferred the impossible Sugi/Tamamin over Akko/Mari, just a little bit. I have also recently discovered that many Yaya/Tsubomi fans prefer Nagisa/Tamao over ShizNag (xD). It's probably just a coincidence since quite a few still like Shizuma and what not, but still…**

**five**

**Just the Way You Are**

"_When I see your face,_

_There's not a thing that I would change,_

'_Cause girl you're amazing,_

_Just the way you are._

_And when you smile,_

_The whole world stops and stares for a while,_

'_Cause girl you're amazing,_

_Just the way you are._

_-Bruno Mars_

Tsubomi woke up the next morning literally shaking with the cold and pulled her covers all the way up to her eyes, curling tightly into a ball.

"Tsubomi-chan, it's time to get up," Chiyo said- the Miator girl was already dressed. Of course. "We're going to be late, Tsubomi-chan…"

Tsubomi only pulled the covers tighter around herself. Usually Tsubomi was an early riser, but she dreaded stepping out into the cold. "Don't they have heaters at this place?" she muttered.

Chiyo hesitated, obviously weighing her options. "Tsubomi-chan," she began slowly, "if you don't get up, I'll get Yaya-senpai."

Tsubomi's eyes shot open- she could only imagine what the older girl would do to wake her up. "I'm up!" she cried, leaping out of bed and stumbling slightly as she was hit with a wave of vertigo. "I think…"

With the low temperature, it took Tsubomi less than five minutes to throw on a pair of jeans and a heavy sweater, and she was out the door before Chiyo was finished fixing her hair.

When the pinkette arrived in the lounge, it appeared that about half of the girls shared Tsubomi's opinion on the weather. Nagisa was cuddled against Tamao (though, judging by the snoring, that might just be because she was still tired, like Tsubomi), who was poking her uncertainly. "You're not supposed to do that, Nagisa-chan…"

Kizuna and Remon were clinging to each other, shivering. Hikari was in Amane's lap, the older girl's arms wrapped firmly around her waist- she was wearing Amane's jacket, as well. Kaname and Momomi were arguing over who was hogging the blanket, and Shion and Kagome seemed to be fighting over a thoroughly content Chikaru for body heat. The second Chiyo and Tsubomi entered the room, Kagome raced over to Chiyo and threw her arms around her in an unusual show of affection, and Shion grabbed her chance, pulling Chikaru into her lap and burying her head into the Le Rim president's shoulder. Chikaru giggled, petting Shion's blonde hair.

Frowning, Tsubomi looked around the room for Yaya, but immediately wished she hadn't. What she was presented with was a very uncomfortable Hikari, a protective Amane, and a lovesick Yaya as the latter watched Hikari like a kicked puppy. An inferno suddenly struck within Tsubomi and she stalked past, 'accidentally' knocking Yaya in the head with her elbow. The older girl hissed in pain and shot her a confused glare, but Tsubomi just ignored it and flicked her pink hair over her shoulder, waltzing over to the group of girls who had been so affectionate with her the day before.

Hikari watched sadly as Yaya rubbed the back of her head with a dejected pout and managed to glare at the group of older girls at the same time. From across the room, Tamao sighed, unconsciously waking Nagisa.

"Hmm?" the redhead mumbled, snuggling closer to Tamao's side, still mostly asleep. "Wazgoin' on?"

Tamao managed a half-smile for the sake of her naïve friend. "Nothing out of the ordinary," she said, running a hand through the red hair. "Just Yaya-chan being dense like always." Tamao knew better than anyone what Tsubomi was feeling at the moment. Even now that Nagisa's fling with Shizuma was truly over, every time her best friend would mention the name of the previous Etoile, Tamao's heart clenched painfully in her chest. If she wasn't mistaken, something had happened between Yaya and Tsubomi the night before, when Yaya went to go comfort the younger girl. Up until this point, the pinkette had been relatively subtle, or at least, not outright violent with her distaste for Yaya's obsession with her best friend.

"Yaya-chan isn't very perceptive, is she, Tamao-chan?"

Tamao smiled indulgently at the girl in her arms. "No, she isn't," she agreed. "I would say that Yaya-chan has all the perceptiveness of a teenage boy when it comes to love." _But you're not very perceptive either, my Nagisa._ She turned her attention back to the sulking Spican and fought the urge to giggle at the expression on Yaya's face. "I think that Yaya-chan is so used to being in love with Hikari that it's the only thing that feels right to her anymore."

Nagisa frowned. "That's stupid. Hikari-chan will never return Yaya-chan's feelings, at least not the way Yaya-chan deserves," she said, watching the scene before them. "And Tsubomi obviously adores her. Is it really that hard to see what's right in front of her?"

This time, Tamao giggled- she couldn't help it. Their situations were so similar and Nagisa had it all figured out- for the wrong side. "I wonder," she murmured, looking down at her best friend.

Rubbing her throbbing head, Yaya scowled. The cause of the scowl wasn't actually from the pain she was experiencing; she'd lived through much worse before. Yaya was actually quite durable when it came to physical pain.

No, her eyes were focused on Tsubomi, or rather, the girl who currently had her arms wrapped around Tsubomi. Yaya wasn't a jealous person- she really wasn't. As a naturally affectionate person, she figured it would be strange if she was. But she did have a possessive streak, and there were certain things that Yaya considered to be hers; Hikari, for example, before she had been snatched away by Amane. It was the realization that something of hers was being taken from her that made her confront Hikari with her feelings, and she hadn't gotten over that offense quite yet. But watching Tsubomi in the arms of that girl- in the arms of someone other than Yaya- made the older girl want to go and lay claim to the pinkette. Her fists clenched of their own accord and she was mortified to find herself close to tears.

_She's mine. You can't have her. Don't take something that's mine._

At that moment, the girl holding onto Tsubomi randomly glanced around the room, and Yaya took the opportunity to clench her jaw and fix the girl with the most volatile glare she could muster. Yaya was pleased to see the girl's eyes widen and dart away, but she was still holding onto Tsubomi.

And Tsubomi belonged to Yaya.

Yaya didn't know what had happened last night; she did, she didn't. She had freaked out, but she didn't know why. Her head ached and she couldn't decide whether to look at Hikari or Tsubomi when looking at either felt like she was betraying the other.

Then a new flame lit within her as she remembered all the times she'd held Tsubomi like that other girl was holding her. She wasn't ready to fall in love again, maybe, but that didn't mean that everyone at Astraea was now allowed to hold her Tsubomi like that.

Hikari watched with bated breath as her best friend went rigid and stood, her gaze never leaving the nameless girl holding Tsubomi. She recognized the look in Yaya's eyes- that girl better not put up a fight.

_Don't take something that's mine._

Tsubomi jumped slightly when a hand landed on her shoulder. She turned and her expression of surprise instantly morphed into a scowl. "What do you want, Yaya-senpai?" she asked angrily. Yaya didn't answer. Instead she sat down and wasted no time in pulling Tsubomi from the other girl's arms and into her lap.

Tsubomi sat there for about five seconds, beet red and unable to move, before she shoved Yaya's chest hard, successfully pushing the girl away, and scrambled to her feet. "What's your problem?" she yelled at the older girl, who was still sprawled on the floor, shocked. The entire room went silent. Shion attempted to stand to say something about the disruption, but Chikaru wordlessly pulled her back down.

"_My_ problem?" Yaya replied after she'd finally regained her voice. "I'm not the one who just went psycho!"

"No, you're just the one who has a problem with me being close to anyone else, but pushes me away when I try and get close to you!" Tsubomi retorted, arms folded over her chest, cheeks puffed out. She turned away from Yaya so that it would seem like just another one of their fights, but her eyes were brimming with tears. Yaya frowned and opened her mouth before closing it again, not knowing how to answer. Tsubomi glanced down at her and laughed dryly at the dumbfounded expression on the brunette's face. "You really don't get it, do you?" she asked, her voice breaking. She shook her head slowly, trying to regain control of her emotions, but a tear slid down her cheek despite her efforts. "You're an idiot, Yaya-senpai." With a choked sob, Tsubomi pushed past the group of girls who had gathered around her, shoving away their attempted hugs, and pushed out of the lodge, into the cold mountain air.

Yaya hadn't moved from where Tsubomi had shoved her. Her mouth was open in shock, and it seemed like the conversation was still working itself through her head. It wasn't right. It was so close. It was too close to what had happened when she'd kissed Hikari.

"She's scared, you know."

Tsubomi didn't look up from the snowy ground. She was sitting on a log only about a quarter-mile from the lodge, drawing random objects in the snow with a stick she'd found. In a moment of clarity, she realized that she'd written Yaya's name in the snow, and quickly scribbled over it. A moment later, Chikaru slipped down onto the log beside her and easily took the stick from her hand. "That's stupid," Tsubomi muttered. "What's she scared of? Apparently it's obvious what I feel for her."

Chikaru brushed a strand of pink hair out of Tsubomi's eyes. "Remember what I said before, Tsubomi-chan?" she asked gently. "Yaya-san has just recently been through a very painful situation. She isn't ready to throw herself out there like that just yet."

Tsubomi scoffed. "You should have seen the look on her face," she whispered, her voice breaking. She shook her head vigorously. "You should have seen her eyes after she kissed me. It didn't even take her a second to regret the whole thing."

Chikaru looked down at Tsubomi sadly, for once not knowing what to say. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Chikaru heard a rustling from behind them and glanced up. Tsubomi stayed hunched over, knowing who it was without even turning around. She felt Chikaru stand up beside her, felt the comforting smile the Le Rim president sent her. She felt her heart race in her chest as another figure moved to take Chikaru's place, keeping a safe distance from the pinkette.

"I'm sorry."

"You're not sorry," Tsubomi said without hesitation, reclaiming her stick and scribbling even more lines through the older girl's name. "You're never sorry."

Yaya sighed beside her and turned so that she was facing the pinkette. She stared and stared until Tsubomi stiffened and whirled around, her face a mask of annoyance and pain, only to be met with an innocent, sincere gaze. "I'm not?" she asked once she had Tsubomi's attention.

The younger girl shook her head. "You're not," she said, then paused. "Well, maybe a little bit. For last night. But you're not sorry about hurting me. You're sorry it happened, right? Sorry, but you're still in love with Hikari. Sorry, but the stupid little kohai never had a chance with you." She jabbed the twig angrily into the snow, starting when it snapped under the pressure.

"Stop it." The words were sharp and angry, causing Tsubomi to sit up straighter and look into an irritated Yaya's eyes. She flinched reflexively, and Yaya sighed. "Just…stop, Tsubomi-chan," she said in a defeated voice.

Tsubomi bit her lip and glared down at the ground, kicking the snow with her shoe. "What's so great about her, anyway?" she asked stubbornly, suddenly wishing she hadn't broken her twig. "What does she have that I don't, other than that stupid Amane-sama?"

Yaya sighed and massaged her temples. "Tsubomi-chan…"

Tsubomi huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Forget I said anything."

"No, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya said, reaching over and taking one of Tsubomi's hands, causing her arms to fall back to her sides. Tsubomi glanced down at the older girl by reflex and suddenly felt extremely guilty. Yaya was looking up at her with a pained expression, taking a submissive position for once. "I want you to listen to me, okay?"

Tsubomi really, _really _didn't want to. She didn't want to hear any of it. _But it wouldn't be fair to Yaya-senpai. _Instead, she nodded once.

"Okay," Yaya said, sitting up straighter and scooting a little closer to Tsubomi on the log. She reached out as if to take Tsubomi's other hand, but Tsubomi pulled away at the last second. It was giving her too much control, too much power. The boy always takes both her hands in his own before telling her it was over. It was supposed to be comforting, but Tsubomi didn't think she could stand it, the almost-sincere-but-not-really contact because it didn't affect Yaya either way. It wasn't Yaya who was going to get hurt this time. "I'm not going to lie to you, Tsubomi," she began. Tsubomi stiffened at the dropped suffix, but didn't say anything. "I do have feelings for Hikari. They aren't as strong as they used to be, but they're there."

"A dead blind guy could see that," Tsubomi muttered.

"But," Yaya continued, choosing to ignore Tsubomi's comment and shifting a little closer to the pinkette, "I like you, Tsubomi-chan."

"And I like ramen. Doesn't mean I'm going to push it down on a bed and have my way with it."

"You know what I mean," Yaya said, beginning to get impatient.

Tsubomi turned to her, arms still folded over her chest. "No, actually, I don't," she said coolly. "Every time I think you mean one thing, it turns out you mean another. Every time I think I have a chance, it's 'ooh, look, there's a cute little first year I can go corrupt'! I've been waiting for you for months, Yaya-senpai. No- a year, even, since I first met you. I can't just wait around forever and watch you just…" She trailed off, unable to complete the sentence. "What if you do fall for one of them? What then?"

Yaya scoffed. "That'll never happen."

"Have you ever heard of Marimite?"

They stayed like that in silence for a few minutes, having reached an impasse, stubbornly looking away from each other until Yaya leaned forward cautiously and ducked down to see Tsubomi's expression. "Hey," she said softly, reaching out to touch Tsubomi's leg. The younger girl cursed herself in her head, wishing she could control the shiver that racked her small body. "I want to give us a chance, Tsubomi-chan. I wouldn't have kissed you if I didn't. But I'm going to need you to give me some time, okay? I was in love with Hikari for what feels like forever and to have her ripped out of my hands like that…sometimes I feel like if Ootori didn't exist…if Hikari didn't know her and still didn't return my feelings…sometimes I think it would have been so much easier to get over her. I don't like it when things are taken from me like that."

"No one does, Yaya-senpai," Tsubomi stated quietly. The cold was really starting to get to her now that her initial anger and pain had worn off slightly, and she shivered. Yaya glanced over at her with a slight frown before her face split into a smirk and she scooted closer to the pinkette.

"Are you cold, Tsu-bo-mi-chan?"

"No," Tsubomi replied stubbornly, folding her arms over her chest more because of the cold than because of Yaya. Yaya grinned and scooted even closer so that her body was pressed up against Tsubomi's from behind and grabbed the younger girl in a tight hug. "Let go!" Tsubomi cried.

"If you're going to be my girlfriend, you're going to have to let me do this, Tsu-bo-mi-chan," Yaya said, leaning forward to plant a wet kiss on the blushing girl's cheek. Then her grin softened into a real smile and she pulled Tsubomi effortlessly into her lap, arms wrapped around the younger girl to keep her warm.

Tsubomi blushed but rested her head against Yaya's shoulder, enjoying the rhythm of the girl's breath. "Whatever," she muttered.

Yaya took one of Tsubomi's hands and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, causing the younger girl to resemble something dangerously close to a Valentine. "I need time, Tsubomi-chan," Yaya repeated, and Tsubomi felt herself stiffen, but the older girl continued, "to get over Hikari. But I do want you to be my girlfriend, and I don't want you running off to some random girls every time we have a fight or I'm doing something wrong, okay? I'm kind of thick sometimes, Tsubomi-chan, I don't know what I'm doing wrong until someone slaps me in the face with it."

"That sounds tempting," Tsubomi muttered, giggling when Yaya scowled. "But I don't see why me talking to those girls is an issue; you talk to the first years all the time. Unless…" An evil smile slowly made its way onto the pinkette's face. "Unless you're _jealous_."

Yaya pursed her lips. "I am _not _jealous," she said defiantly, then paused for a moment, seeming to slump a bit beneath Tsubomi. "Maybe a little bit."

Tsubomi laughed out loud at the role-reversal. "I never thought I'd see the day," she said. "Nanto Yaya, Astraea Hill's most prominent playgirl, jealous of a few upperclassmen."

Yaya growled under her breath, causing Tsubomi to giggle some more. "Well if they'd keep their dirty hands to themselves…," she muttered, holding Tsubomi tighter to her chest.

Tsubomi slapped her arm playfully. "Be nice, Yaya-senpai."

"I will when they are," Yaya insisted stubbornly.

Tsubomi frowned. "But they _are_," she said, confused, "they're always nice to me. What are you talking about?"

"That's exactly what I'm talking about," Yaya said, standing up and holding Tsubomi securely to make sure she didn't lose her balance. "They're _too _nice."

Tsubomi scoffed. "So, just because they actually treat me like a cute underclassman instead of a brat makes them bad people in Yaya-senpai's opinion?"

Yaya scoffed. "You a_re _a brat."

"See?"

Yaya growled again just as they reached the door and in an uncharacteristic show of chivalry, held the door open for Tsubomi before going in after her, making sure to wrap her arms around the pinkette's waist. The majority of the girls seemed preoccupied with one thing or another, Tsubomi was pleased to note, especially when Yaya dropped her chin onto Tsubomi's shoulder. "But you're _my _brat," she whispered in Tsubomi's ear, pressing a swift kiss to the now very red shell and shooting a warning glance over at the Tsubomi-fangirls just to be safe.

Across the room, Chikaru grinned at the obvious show of affection and nudged Shion, who was attempting to fall asleep in her girlfriend's lap. She grumbled under her breath and rolled over, trying to get away from Chikaru's prodding fingers. Chikaru giggled and bent down, kissing Shion's nose gently. "Wake up, koi," she said softly, waiting until a groggy Shion sat up dizzily. "Look," she said, tilting her head towards Yaya and Tsubomi.

Shion raised an eyebrow and turned to her girlfriend. "You woke me up for that?" she asked.

Chikaru just giggled and smiled enigmatically, and Shion sighed, falling back into Chikaru's lap, trying to pretend the interruption had never happened.


	7. Chapter Six: Girl Next Door

**Kamakazi Anon: This chapter should signify the last of the Yaya-Angst, because I'm terrible at writing angst xD. And I figured it was pretty in character for Yaya to be possessive- she really seemed like she wanted to be in Hikari's case, but realized she didn't have the right. And I couldn't really think of anything for Chikaru to say, sorry :P And I don't completely understand what you meant by the transitional ball rolling with Shion and Chikaru…do you mean you want more of them or that they should help Yaya/Tsubomi? Because they're already established…sorry, I just didn't understand xP And yes, I do intend to pair Nagisa with Tamao =)**

**Anonymous 8D: Thanks, so do I =)**

**Jrc28: Thanks =)**

**Kaze Rei: I agree, Chikaru could definitely PWN Kaname if she really wanted to, and just with that little smile of hers. Like I said earlier, I think Yaya would have been more possessive with Hikari if she thought she had the right to be, so I figured she would be with Tsubomi, when she feels she does. And that's pretty much my stance with canon, too. Even in Strawberry Shake Sweet (ADORABLE!) I preferred the pairing of Sera/Rena. **

**Nao-Sama: I agree completely. Hikari's just a simple minded girl. I can't bring myself to completely hate her because she's just naïve and doesn't even know what she's getting herself into. Yaya was too complex for her; she wouldn't know how to deal with Yaya if she ever wanted more than just kissing and hugging. Personally, I was slightly disturbed that Hikari and Amane were the pair that ended up…you know…getting it on xD. And I think that's why I like beta/doomed couples as well. And yes, Yaya is finally starting to move on- there's just this last chapter of real angst because Yaya has to realize that it's truly over and that she truly needs Tsubomi by her side. And even in the anime, Tsubomi's always seemed like the jealous type, more outright and upfront with it than Yaya, but still. I figured after Yaya kissed her, it'd just get worse.**

**And for my usual unrelated rant: Is it just me or does anyone else get the whole Edward/Bella/Jacob feeling from Amane/Hikari/Yaya? I mean obviously Amane is no possessive vampire, but she's pretty gentlemanly and all…anyway, I just kinda feel like Bella was so in love with Edward's LOOKS, not Edward himself, the same way Hikari seems to be in love with Amane's talent and appearance. And then here comes Jacob/Yaya, willing to give Bella/Hikari their EVERYTHING, protecting her when Edward/Amane isn't there, but as soon as Edward/Amane comes back, it's like, "Ew, get away from me. I can't believe you expect to me CARE about you after you protected me and became my best friend and did literally EVERYTHING in your power just to make me smile. You make me SICK." Obviously it's just my opinion that Jacob was better than Edward, but, like the Stopani love triangle, I believe that Bella and Edward deserved each other, and Jacob deserved better. Except not a baby. I mean, come on. Ew. ANYWAY, it's just a vibe I've always gotten, from back when I used to kind of like Twilight. Just a thought.**

**ANYWAY. On to the chapter. It might seem kind of sudden, but I figured the whole skinship thing Yaya has going on with Hikari would need to be taken care of up front, and we ALL know Tsubomi tends to blow things out of proportion. But on a positive note, this should be the last of the major angst.**

**six**

**Girl Next Door**

"_She's the prom queen, I'm in the marching band,_

_She's a cheerleader, I'm sitting in the stands._

_I get a little bit, she gets a little more._

_She's Miss America and…she's Miss America…_

_I'm just the girl next door."_

_-Saving Jane_

She hadn't expected everything to change overnight, but Tsubomi honestly didn't think it was too much to ask for things to change _at all_. She knew Yaya needed time to get over Hikari, but honestly didn't see how clinging to the girl like one of those cheap sticky toys you get from quarter machines was going to help her with that. Tsubomi had tried to be patient (as patient as Tsubomi could be, which admittedly wasn't much), but it was as if the entire camping trip hadn't happened at all. It was Yaya's way of dealing with her life, which just happened to be not dealing at all, and, despite what she had said, Tsubomi was becoming increasingly tired of being second to Hikari in her girlfriend's eyes. So, unwilling to break her promise to Yaya and demand the girl get over her first love, Tsubomi did the only other thing she knew how, and began to avoid Yaya like the plague. She didn't trust herself to keep her mouth shut when Yaya got too close to Hikari.

"Maybe it would be better to talk to her?" Chiyo asked, because somehow, Chiyo had deluded herself into thinking she was Tsubomi's one and only confidante. Which she was, actually, but Chiyo didn't need to know that. "I mean, she's bound to notice you're avoiding her eventually."

Tsubomi shook her head. "You're forgetting this is Yaya-senpai we're talking about, Chiyo-chan," she said. "I've got at least another month before she even notices anything's wrong."

Chiyo looked unconvinced. "You know," she said quietly, like she was bracing herself for war. She had never stood up to Tsubomi before, let alone argued a point that obviously had nothing to do with her, but she didn't want her friend getting hurt. "_You're _her girlfriend, not Hikari-sama. You have a right to talk to her about this. If Kagome-chan was acting like this, then-"

"But she's _not_, is she?" Tsubomi suddenly cut her off, whirling to face Chiyo with red eyes, as if she was trying not to cry. "Kagome-chan would _never _do something like this, would she? Kagome-chan isn't hopelessly devoted to her perfect angel of a best friend, is she? It must be nice. I've seen the way she looks at you; she'd do anything for you and she never lets you forget it. And just the way she's always wary around me shows how much you mean to her. I've been avoiding Yaya-senpai for three days and she hasn't even _noticed_." Tsubomi fell back onto her bed, suddenly exhausted. Her eyes hurt from the repressed tears, and there was an enormous lump in her throat.

"Maybe she's tried to talk to you," Chiyo said in the same hesitant tone. "Some people are really good at avoiding other people; if Tsubomi-chan is one of those people, she can't expect Yaya-senpai to be able to find you. I know you want to be near Yaya-senpai, Tsubomi-chan. You're happiest when you're with her. I know you want her to run after you."

Tsubomi huffed. "It's not like she'd have to search all of Japan to find me."

"You're not even staying in your own dorm room, Tsubomi-chan," Chiyo pointed out quietly. "How can you expect her to find you in some random girl's room? Do you really think she wants to think that you're here?"

"I don't care what she wants to think," Tsubomi muttered. "Why should I? Does she honestly think that I want to see her all over Hikari-senpai, just like usual? I said I'd give her time to get over her, not that I'd look the other way while she throws herself at her first love like a lovesick puppy." _Her ongoing love._

Chiyo shrugged, deciding it was better just to leave things as they were, and left the room to find Kagome for lunch.

**PGBR**

It wasn't difficult to avoid Yaya throughout her classes, since they were in different grades, but after her last class, Tsubomi found herself debating whether or not to go to choir practice. Yaya almost never showed up, but at the same time, if she had noticed anything wrong with Tsubomi, it was a sure-fire way to confront her. Not that Tsubomi didn't want Yaya to notice, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to face her or not. Yaya would definitely demand an answer, and Tsubomi doubted she'd appreciate the truth.

In the end, though, she decided to go- if Yaya was there, it wasn't like they would have a chance to talk during class, and even though the older girl was more athletic than Tsubomi, Tsubomi was lighter on her feet and could easily (maybe) outrun her. Hopefully.

She needn't have worried, though; the spot beside her was just as empty as ever. Tsubomi wasn't sure whether she felt more grateful that she wouldn't have to deal with a confrontation or upset because Yaya obviously hadn't noticed or didn't care enough to confront her.

Choir practice passed in a blur; Tsubomi wasn't really paying attention. When they were released, she grabbed her things and instantly made her way towards the door, but a hand caught her wrist tightly. She whirled around to face an apologetic Hikari, who appeared to have dived forward to catch the pinkette's wrist. "Hikari-senpai?"

Hikari smiled weakly. "Gomenasai, Tsubomi-chan," she said, "but Yaya-chan didn't think you were likely to be caught off-guard if she was here."

Tsubomi groaned as Hikari led her outside of the church and off towards the Strawberry Dorms, mentally kicking herself repeatedly for not seeing this one coming. Hikari hadn't even been sneaky at all; she'd vaguely felt the older girl's gaze resting on her back for the entire practice, but she'd never guess that Hikari was capable of doing something so blatantly sneaky. A part of her was thrilled that Yaya had noticed Tsubomi was avoiding her, but a bigger part of her really wished she'd gotten someone else to do her dirty work. But it was always Hikari- would always b_e _Hikari.

As they neared the Dorms, Tsubomi caught sight of a very satisfied Yaya leaning up against the wall, one leg balancing her weight. She scowled and averted her eyes, halfheartedly tugging at her wrist, but Hikari was stronger than she looked.

"Thanks, Hikari!" Yaya said brightly when a nervous Hikari all but threw Tsubomi at her. Yaya had caught her easily, and Tsubomi tried not to lose herself in the warm embrace that she'd missed so much. Hikari gave her a weak smile before sending Tsubomi another apologetic look and darting through the entrance doors. "Now, about you," Yaya said, pulling just far enough away from the pinkette to look her in the eyes.

Tsubomi huffed, folding her arms over her chest. "That was underhanded, Yaya-senpai," she muttered. Yaya raised an eyebrow.

"And avoiding me isn't?"

"I haven't been avoiding you!" Tsubomi defended loudly, because she wasn't a very good liar, and at the time it seemed like the louder she was, the more convincing she'd seem. Obviously, she was mistaken.

"It's not nice to lie, Tsu-bo-mi-chan," Yaya sing-songed in her ear. Tsubomi growled and tore away.

"It's not nice to throw yourself all over the girl you _love _right in front of your girlfriend!" she snapped back. Yaya's eyes widened and she looked as if she'd been slapped. "Yeah, that's what I thought," Tsubomi muttered. "Didn't even notice you were doing it, right? The least you could do is wait 'til I'm out of the room, you know, so I wouldn't have to explain to people why I just let my girlfriend flirt blatantly with another girl. It gives people a bad impression of me, you know?" Tsubomi tightened her arms around herself and looked away stubbornly.

Yaya reached down and grabbed Tsubomi's chin gently in her fingers, tilting the girl's head up so she could look her in the eyes. "I…" She frowned, as if trying to find a way to complete the sentence.

"Don't have an excuse," Tsubomi finished for her with a sigh. "Just forget it, okay? I thought I could do it; I _knew _I could do it if it was just you getting over her, but you're not even trying." She shrugged out of Yaya's grip and brushed past her, heading for the entrance to the Dorms.

"Are you breaking up with me? Hey," Yaya said, reaching out and grabbing Tsubomi's wrist. This time, the pinkette didn't hold back as she had with Hikari and yanked with all her might. Unfortunately, Yaya was much stronger than Hikari, and apparently Tsubomi as well. "Hey, at least look at me."

Tsubomi clenched her hands into fists and turned, deliberately glaring up at Yaya in defiance. The older girl seemed to wince at the look in her eyes, but seemed to get over it quickly and seized Tsubomi by her waist, pressing her tight against her body with one arm and catching Tsubomi's chin with the other, forcing Tsubomi to face her. When she did, Yaya ducked down and easily captured Tsubomi's lips in her own, backing the younger girl up against the wall of the school.

The pinkette was momentarily paralyzed by shock, but after a few seconds passed, she clenched her lips shut and dug her fingers painfully (she hoped) into Yaya's arms, shoving the older girl back. She contemplated slapping her, but thought better of it. The look on Yaya's face told Tsubomi she knew damn well what she'd done.

"Is that your solution to everything? That didn't work with H-Hikari-senpai, and I don't know what possessed you to think it w-would work with me," Tsubomi snapped, her voice wavering, but she knew her words would cut deep enough to overlap her stuttering. "I don't know what you're playing at, Yaya-senpai," Tsubomi said quietly, one finger pressed into Yaya's chest, "but I've watched you hang all over Hikari for more than a year, hoping that one day _maybe _I'd be good enough for you. You got your heart trampled and ripped to shreds and who was it that picked up the pieces? Not your precious Hikari. You've mourned over her for more than a year but no matter how much you cry about it, she's never going to choose _you_. I've been here,_ waiting_, for more than a year, and even when I thought maybe, one day, I could finally have you, you go and do something _stupid_. Again."

Yaya's eyes were gentle as she just let Tsubomi to rant at her, and it only infuriated the pinkette more. Tsubomi growled in frustration. "_Baka_!" she shouted as the first tear escaped her eyes. "Baka, baka, baka, _baka_!" She flew forward into Yaya's arms, pounding her fists into the older girl's chest while Yaya just held her, as if she didn't even feel the blows. Finally Tsubomi grew tired of being angry when it didn't even affect Yaya, and slumped forward into Yaya's chest, a sobbing mess. It was so cliché it made her sick but the sobs just wouldn't stop. She was tired of pretending to smile, tired of sitting back and playing the best friend when all she wanted was to be more. "You're so_ selfish_, moping around Hikari like a kicked puppy." Her hands clenched around Yaya's shoulders, though she couldn't tell if it was from wanting her to feel how much pain she'd put Tsubomi through or if it was just her not wanting to let Yaya go. "You're not the only one with a broken heart," she choked out, her voice muffled by Yaya's uniform. "Say something!" she cried, hands still clasped tightly to Yaya's shoulders. "Hit me back! Just stop…stop _standing _there and _taking _it!"

She felt Yaya shake her head. "I won't hit you," Yaya said, tightening her arms around Tsubomi. "I never will." Tsubomi sniffed and pulled back, wiping her eyes furiously. Yaya frowned. "When did you start wearing makeup?" she asked, running her fingers over the black smudges around Tsubomi's eyes.

Tsubomi shrugged, her walls coming crashing back down as she wrapped her arms around herself protectively. "I'll never be beautiful like Hikari-senpai," she muttered, embarrassed by her reasoning, "but it makes me look a little better. And it's not like I even wear that much."

"Is that what you think?" Yaya asked, concern tinting her voice.

"It's true, isn't it?" Tsubomi asked, though it wasn't so much a question as a statement. "She's beautiful enough to make both stars of Spica fall for her at first sight, and somehow I doubt Kenjou-sama targets her for purely professional reasons." She flushed. "Can I go now?"

Yaya looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped herself. "Where are you staying?" she finally asked in a quiet, very un-Yaya-like voice. Tsubomi's eyes suddenly laser-focused on the nail indentations in Yaya's arms and she winced. "You didn't think I'd notice?"

"Chiyo told you, didn't she?" Tsubomi asked dryly. Yaya looked away, cheeks slightly red. Tsubomi nodded. "I thought so."

Yaya looked back at her, crossing her arms. "It's not like I didn't look for you," she said hotly. "I just figured that if you were trying _that hard _to avoid me, you probably wouldn't want me bursting into your room. And don't go off on Chiyo-chan a_gain_- I was the one who cornered her and made her tell me what she knew."

Tsubomi's eyes widened slightly, her mind instantly shifting to the upperclassman she was currently rooming with. _How much does Yaya-senpai know? _"She didn't tell you where I was staying?"

Yaya scowled. "No. That was all I could get out of her."

Tsubomi laughed out of reflex. "That's pathetic," she stated, scoffing. "How hard can it be to get something out of Chiyo? Look, don't worry about where I'm staying. It's not like I'm out in the cold or anything, and it's none of your business, anyway."

"How is it not my business?"

"It just isn't," Tsubomi said stubbornly, pulling out of Yaya's grip again. "_Now_ can I go?"

Yaya sighed, and Tsubomi took that as a yes, brushing past the older girl and yanking the door open forcefully. Just before the door slammed behind her, she heard Yaya say, "You're beautiful, Tsubomi-chan."

Tsubomi halted, then, gritting her teeth, shook her head and stormed back up to the room she was staying in.


	8. Chapter Seven: Over My Head

**Kamakazi Anon: Are you happy with the Yaya-Angst or frustrated with it…? xD Well it's pretty much over now, so there's that. I really didn't mean to make Yaya look that bad…I just think she's a very dense character and needs to be slapped in the face with something before she understands it. I also figured that Tsubomi is much more self-conscious than she lets on, and that it would be something she would think about, seeing as everyone LOVES Hikari. God knows why; I don't. Reminds me of Estella Havisham, always meaning well but still…but that's a nightmare I'd rather not relive xP And yes, I laugh at Chiyo too xD**

**Kaze Rei: Thanks =) And yes, I think Chikaru could take on just about anyone and leave them in the dust. That's why it's so unlikely that she's ever paired with anyone- they just can't find anyone good enough. Personally, I'm not dead-set on Chikaru/Shion- Chikaru/Tamao and Shion/Miyuki would be lovely…but now I'm getting TOTALLY off topic xP Anyway, I'm glad you're liking the fic so much =)**

**lonely jester: I totally agree! Yaya and Tsubomi along with Shion/Miyuki or Chikaru and Chikaru/Shion or Tamao are pairings I'd LOVE to see more of, but I'm cursed to always love the rare pairings, apparently…and yes, Tsubomi is pretty small xD That's what was going through my head when I wrote the scene- it's a pretty cliché scene but I could just SEE it happening. **

**RomanticVulcanolight: Don't worry, the Yaya-Angst and all the heartbreak is pretty much over as of this chapter =)**

**Kaizer20: Honestly, I've recently discovered I'm not a diehard shipper of them together- they're sweet, but I'd kind of like to see Tamao/Chikaru or Shion/Miyuki, as I've mentioned several times already xD. And who doesn't love a possessive Yaya?**

**Rant time…**

**Stopani is dying on Fanfiction D= Especially rare (ish) pairings like Chikaru and Shion, and Yaya and Tsubomi (which isn't actually RARE, surprisingly). I'd even love to read a TamaoXMiyuki at this point…or TamaoXChikaru…oh, my god. I never even thought of that before but now… and maybe some Shion/Miyuki…ANYWAY, it seems that all my fandoms are dying all over the place…even my Harry Potter fandoms are slowly fading to nothing…it's quite depressing, considering I'll have at least another month before I really socialize with anyone again before college…but I have to go back to high school for graduation (graduated six months early xP, I thought I was done with all of it, but NO.). It's going to be a nightmare. ANYWAY. Back to the point of this speech. Which was…nothing, actually. Whatever. Please enjoy and don't forget to review!**

**Seven**

Over My Head

"_Everyone knows I'm in_

_Over my head, over my head._

_With eight seconds left in overtime, _

_She's on your mind, _

_She's on your…"_

_-The Fray_

Yaya slammed the door to her newly-single dorm room shut before growling in frustration and sinking to the floor, back pressed against the door.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" she wondered aloud. The scene back by the entrance doors with Tsubomi had played and replayed itself in her mind so many times that she had memorized every word, every touch, every hurt, betrayed glance. Why hadn't she been able to say something- _anything_? Why had she just stood there and let Tsubomi yell and yell and cry her eyes out without interrupting, allowing Tsubomi to think whatever she'd been thinking was true?

_Because it is._

Yaya winced at the painfully blunt voice before shaking her head violently. It wasn't all true; she still had feelings for Hikari, she wasn't going to delude herself into thinking otherwise, but other than that… All those things Tsubomi had said…all those horrible, self-depreciating things that Yaya had somehow allowed her to believe about herself…

She couldn't believe the way Tsubomi saw herself. Had it always been this way? No, she used to be confident, didn't she. She didn't used to care about those types of things, makeup and beauty and whatever else.

But what if she did?

Yaya had never removed her eyes from her ang- from _Hikari _long enough to see past Tsubomi's stubborn confidence.

And now she'd been doing it again- attaching herself to Hikari and ignoring the rest of the world, including her sweet, loyal, adorable girlfriend who had stood by her through the very worst nights, when Yaya would completely shut off and refuse to speak to anyone but Hikari. How much must it have hurt her, then, watching the girl she loved pine and pine over the girl she could never have while she was sitting there _waiting _to be whatever Yaya needed? Yaya groaned, pounding her head against the hard oak door. She knew what was best for her; she knew she had to let go of Hikari, not for her sake, but for Hikari's…for Tsubomi. Everything would be so much easier if she could just let go and yet…

What was she so afraid of?

Love? No, she was far too eager to fall in love.

Rejection, though. Hikari's expression on that night had been burned into her subconscious, even though she hadn't looked at Hikari the same way for a while now.

But Tsubomi had never looked at her like that, had she? She'd kissed her back, pulled her _closer_, even…

Growling, Yaya smacked herself in the head, hard.

_Tsubomi-chan's right- baka, Yaya._

After what happened the day before, Tsubomi wasn't sure where she stood with Yaya- were they broken up now, or a couple still, just sorting through some issues? She shook her head. Issues. That's one word for it.

"Hi, Hikari-senpai!" she chirped, plastering on a sweet (fake) smile for the naïve blonde. Tsubomi slipped into the seat next to Hikari, and faced the older girl, purposefully turning her back to Yaya's eyes. Yaya's jaw tightened.

"Good morning, Tsubomi-chan," Hikari said with a sweet, if slightly nervous, smile. "Is everything okay?"

Tsubomi faltered for just a moment before the smile was back in full force. "Never better, Hikari-senpai," she said, turning her attention to Nagisa and Tamao, who had just arrived at the table. "Hi, Nagisa-senpai, Tamao-senpai."

The two girls echoed Tsubomi's greeting and sat down across the table, Nagisa looking happy as ever with a full plate of food in front of her, and Tamao looking almost weary as her expressive (and altogether too perceptive, in Tsubomi's opinion) violet eyes flickered from the pinkette to Yaya and back.

Tsubomi pointedly avoided Tamao's gaze. She was going to tell her to go easier on Yaya- to give her time to get over Hikari. But that's all anyone ever did, and Tsubomi was getting sick of it. Yaya wasn't some porcelain doll who would break if someone accidentally mentioned Amane's name like she used to be, but that's how they all treated her.

Suddenly she jumped slightly, starting when Yaya's warm arm made contact with her waist. The jerky movement didn't cause Yaya to halt, though, as the older girl wound her arm tightly around Tsubomi's small waist, pulling the pinkette closer to her. Tsubomi was about to whirl around to scold her, but Yaya leaned forwards, pressing her chin into Tsubomi's shoulder. "Gomenasai, Tsubomi-chan," she whispered, her warm breath flooding over the shell of Tsubomi's ear and causing the younger girl to shiver. "I didn't realize I was hurting you so much."

Tsubomi huffed and folded her arms over her chest. "Baka," she mumbled, but her body relaxed of its own accord. She hadn't felt so safe and secure for days now, and even though she and Yaya argued constantly, Tsubomi could never hold a grudge against that crooked smile and amber eyes. "Just don't do it again."

She felt Yaya grin into the side of her neck and a small smile graced her lips before she could stop it. "Gomen," she repeated, pressing her lips to the space between Tsubomi's shoulder and her neck. Then she frowned, watching Tsubomi pick at her food until it was an unidentifiable mess on her plate.

"What are you do- Yaya-_senpai_!"

Yaya grinned at her girlfriend's mortified reaction as she pulled Tsubomi out of class with a fake note from the head sister. "I missed my Tsubomi-chan; is that so wrong?"

Tsubomi huffed and turned away, but quickly turned back when she felt a hand gently grab her wrist. Yaya was looking at her with an unreadable expression, and Tsubomi was almost afraid of the look in those deep amber eyes. It was the same look that had broken her heart when Yaya first directed it at Hikari, and Tsubomi still didn't quite understand it.

Her breath caught in her throat as Yaya pulled Tsubomi into a deserted hallway and wrapped her arms tightly around the smaller girl, burying her head in the pink hair. "Gomen," she said quietly, her voice vibrating pleasantly against Tsubomi's throat. "She hurt me- they hurt me so much that I didn't realize I was doing it to someone else. For the longest time she was all that mattered- after she left, I didn't know what to think or say or do. She was the only thing that was ever really mine, and someone took her- _stole _her…" Yaya's voice broke off unevenly as she seemed to swallow back tears. If there was one thing Tsubomi knew about Yaya, it was that the older girl hated for people to see her cry. "I can't give you everything you want or deserve but I swear I'll try, Tsubomi-chan," she finally continued. "And I know it's selfish with how little I'm giving you and how much you've done for me but I don't want you to let anyone else touch you."

Tsubomi winced as Yaya's voice seemed to choke on her last sentence and she slowly moved to wrap her arms around the older girl's neck, scolding herself for not picking up on it before. Of _course _Yaya would be possessive- if Yaya didn't have that right, no one did, and here was Tsubomi, getting _mad _at her (but not really, because secretly Tsubomi was just an ordinary teenage girl and secretly she thought it was kind of adorable when Yaya's lips would purse in that just-barely-there pout and she would make sure to maintain some kind of contact with the younger girl) for it.

_And I call Yaya-senpai a baka..._

_ …_

_ Well, still. Baka, Tsubomi._

Finally, Tsubomi sighed and pulled away from a reluctant Yaya. "When are you going to stop apologizing, Yaya-senpai?" she asked quietly, unable to resist Yaya's gentle tugging at her waist. She rested her head against Yaya's shoulder and basked in the feeling of Yaya's warm breath at her neck. "You can't change what you've done or who you've hurt, you know. Just…promise me you won't try and block me out?" She clung tighter to Yaya's shoulders- it was the one thing she feared the most. Yaya had a tendency to block the world out when it came to her emotions, and she didn't only hurt herself. Tsubomi breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Yaya nod against her head and blushed deeply at the warm, soft kiss the older girl placed upon her head.

Breathing in Yaya's scent, Tsubomi's muscles finally relaxed for the first time that day- she didn't have any more reason to be so tense. Offhandedly, her gaze flickered down to the arms that were holding her so tightly, and she winced at the nail-marks that were still visible against the pale skin. Glancing down, Yaya seemed to trace Tsubomi's guilty gaze, and she pulled the girl tighter against her. "So…," she began, leaning back against a wall and pulling Tsubomi so that the younger girl's weight was fully resting on her. "What do you think's going on with Nagisa and Tamao?"

Thankful for the distraction, Tsubomi tentatively rested against her girlfriend, afraid to put too much weight on the older girl. Yaya smirked, apparently reading her thoughts.

"I hope you're not worried about crushing me, Tsubomi-chan," she said nonchalantly. "You'd have to gain another hundred pounds or so before that could even be a possibility."

Tsubomi growled and attempted to pull away from Yaya, but the older girl just laughed and held her tighter. After a moment, Tsubomi relaxed in the warm embrace. "Nagisa-senpai and Tamao-senpai?" she asked, thinking back to Yaya's question. "I think…I think Nagisa-senpai is still oblivious to how Tamao-senpai feels, but she is Nagisa-senpai so it's to be expected…although she seems to be clinging to Tamao a bit more recently, and for once Tamao-senpai is being a bit thick."

Yaya grinned into Tsubomi's hair. "That's a detailed observation, Tsu-bo-mi-chan."

Tsubomi flushed. "Well, it's not like no one else has noticed," she defended with a pout. "And for all the time Tamao-senpai's spent giving me knowing glances and everything, I don't think it's so wrong to do the same to her." But Tsubomi wasn't serious about 'revenge' on Tamao- if anything, she understood exactly what the blue-haired Miator girl was going through. Tamao had loved Nagisa from the start and watched her love another who was clearly only going to break her heart, and even now that she was single, there was still that uncertainty. But Tamao never lost that smile that she'd always give Nagisa and everyone else to let them know she was okay, even though everyone but Nagisa could see she wasn't. She could watch as Nagisa loved another and selflessly support her, asking nothing in return- something Tsubomi had attempted and failed. Burying her head further into Yaya's chest, Tsubomi thanked whatever god was watching that Yaya wasn't Nagisa. "I hope you're not planning on trying to hook them up, Yaya-senpai," Tsubomi added, cringing when she imagined what kinds of things Yaya would do to push the two together.

Yaya grinned and shot Tsubomi a poorly faked pout. "Tsubomi-chan doesn't believe in me?" she asked, and Tsubomi rolled her eyes.

"Not for this kind of thing. You'd scar them for life. Matchmaking is better left to people like Chikaru-sama," Tsubomi stated definitively, adding in a nod for good measure. With her head pressed up against Yaya's chest, Tsubomi felt the growl more than she heard it, and had to take a deep breath to steady her heart rate. She'd never admit it out loud, but she loved Yaya's habits when the older girl was feeling possessive. First there was the tightening of the already defined jaw muscles, then the narrowing of the dark amber eyes, then the arms around Tsubomi's small body. But what really made Tsubomi's heart leap uncomfortably in her chest was the _growling_. She didn't think Yaya even realized that she did it; Yaya was just a territorial person and relied on body language and subtle signs to express possession.

It wasn't like Tsubomi hadn't dated before; she'd had a boyfriend back in middle school, before she transferred to Spica, but it never really felt like they were dating. They had never even called it off, really. It had just seemed to end with middle school; they still text messaged and called each other from time to time, but that was it.

It was the way that Yaya truly seemed to care about Tsubomi, and was always afraid of her being taken away, even though it was highly unlikely that made Tsubomi's heart race. But looking up in those amber eyes, Tsubomi knew that half of what hid behind them in these times was hurt, and it wrenched at her heart to see Yaya in pain- it always had. "Hey," she said, pulling away just enough so that Yaya could see her face. "Why do you always get like this when I talk about Chikaru-sama?"

Yaya diverted her gaze, shrugging noncommittally. Tsubomi sighed and stood on her tiptoes, wrapping her arms around Yaya's shoulders. "You don't have to be so worried about me leaving, Yaya-senpai. I l-…I care about you," Tsubomi said, catching herself before she gave away what she figured would probably ruin whatever relationship they had. Her cheeks flushed dark with the near miss, though, and she averted her eyes. "I have for a long time, and I haven't had a crush on anyone else in a while."

There was silence for about ten seconds, and then, inevitably, "Aww! My Tsubomi-chan loooooves me!" Tsubomi scowled and was about to protest when Yaya literally lifted her off the floor and spun her in the air. She shrieked, holding onto Yaya's shoulders with all her strength until the older girl put her down.

"Yaya-_senpai_!"

Yaya laughed, rubbing the back of her head. "Gomen, gomen," she said, leaning back against the wall. Tsubomi was tempted to leave just to teach her a lesson, but decided against it and tentatively rested her body against Yaya's again, and was instantly rewarded by a pair of arms tightening around her waist. "But are you sure we can't…"

"No, Yaya-senpai. It's none of our business."

"But-"

"NO!"

"Tsu-bo-mi-chaaan…"

"B-baka! Keep those to yourself!"


	9. Chapter Eight: Love the Way You Lie

**So according to a new fanfic I was reading, this site has banned responding to reviews within the story. I'll look in on this, but for now, please continue to review, and if you have something you want me to respond to, please send me a message! Thank you all for your continued support! You guys make me motivated to write more!**

**RANT OF THE CHAPTER!**

**So I was thinking- I just recently watched Mai Hime/Otome, and was checking out discussion boards like I do because I have no life, and (this'll only make sense if you've seen both series' or at least have a basic understanding of it) I come across these people who are practically worshipping Shizuru Fujino and cursing Tomoe Marguerite to the deepest pits of HELL. And I'm sitting there, having watched the series relatively unbiased, since I was only watching it for the (barely there) yuri. And I was so confused, cuz I'm like, 'Okay, so Shizuru goes on a killing rampage, murdering anyone who so much as LOOKS at Natsuki wrong (in my opinion, the one who really tried to hurt Natsuki was Nao, and Nao was my favorite character, so Shizuru gets no pity from me), and people freaking worship the dirt she WALKS on. Then you have Tomoe, who's admittedly just as psycho as Shizuru, only more open about it. She manipulates and plots and schemes and eventually kidnaps Viola- may I point out that it is actually VIOLA who ends up manipulating HER- and people curse her name and flame her like nobody's business. And I'm sitting here thinking 'Are they really that different?' Don't get me wrong- this is my OPINION, not meant to offend, and I'm not particularly a fan of either girl. But seriously- put their sins together and they end up just about even. So why does Shizuru get such a huge fanbase while Tomoe rots in hell? Maybe it's because Natsuki forgave Shizuru (even though she didn't deserve it), and Viola used the hell out of Tomoe. Either way, it's pretty much a double standard. I think this whole rant was triggered by the fact that if I see ONE MORE purely ShizNat fic I might seriously throw up. I mean, there's two million of them already. Again, don't get me wrong- I LOVE Natsuki and I'm not trying to offend anyone. I just don't think Shizuru deserved all the love she got from everyone while Tomoe got ostrasized. And Shizuru was just NOT that pretty. I mean really…not to say Tomoe was. Her hair creeped me out.**

**In this most recent chapter, new doors are opened and relationships may change…forever. People discover they aren't as compatible as they once thought and others have something completely different up their sleeves… WARNING! Some pairings, save YayaXTsubomi, may be subject to change. Sorry this took so long to get out- I had a severe lack of motivation for a while there…This story is going to expand to encompass the relationships more equally, which hopefully you will all be okay with.**

eight

Love the Way You Lie

"_Just gonna stand here and watch me burn,_

_But that's alright because I like the way it hurts._

_Just gonna stand here and watch me cry,_

_But that's alright because I love the way you lie-_

_I love the way you lie."_

_-Rhianna & Eminem_

Later that night, Tsubomi found herself sneaking down the hallways once again, on her way to another one of Nagisa and Tamao's tea parties. Only this time, there was a significant weight around her shoulders from Yaya's arm, which the girl had tossed haphazardly over Tsubomi's shoulder as soon as she'd come to pick up the pinkette and saw her roommate. Tsubomi had complained at first, but hadn't protested too much- she actually enjoyed the extra weight and the message Yaya was sending off with it.

_Plus_, she thought, _it means I'm not going to get scolded for breathing the same air as Chiyo. _Out loud, she said, "You know, your girlfriend has some pretty surprising jealous issues."

Beside her, Chiyo ducked self-consciously. "G-gomen," she said, "I keep telling her we're only friends, and I think she believes me, but she really wanted to share a room this year." After a moment, Chiyo seemed to gather her courage with Yaya there as a border between herself and the tsundere. "And besides, I don't think Tsubomi-chan should be the one saying that to me."

Tsubomi's eyes widened then narrowed at the (completely true) statement, but Yaya just laughed and tightened her arm around Tsubomi. "She's right, Tsubomi-chan," she said, grinning, "don't be such a hypocrite."

Tsubomi gaped and was about to say something, but the door to Nagisa and Tamao's room suddenly swung open, revealing a worried-looking Tamao who'd obviously been listening in on the conversation. "Please, come in," she said, sweat-dropping.

Yaya grinned and pushed Tsubomi into the room first, following behind her and sitting down on one of the beds, pulling a blushing Tsubomi into her lap and resting her chin on her shoulder.

**PGBR**

Tamao smiled gently at the pair; it would take someone denser than her Nagisa-chan not to notice the obvious change in the dynamic between the two. Then she bit her lip, glancing down at the teacup she held in her hands. _I say my Nagisa-chan, but…_

"Tamao-chan?"

Tamao started slightly, jumping as Nagisa leaned closer to her with a slight frown. "What is it, Nagisa-chan?"

"Are you okay?" Nagisa asked, the frown still marring her features. "It's just that you've seemed kind of upset recently…"

Instantly, out of habit, Tamao's face split into a very believable plastic smile, and she cocked her head at Nagisa. "What do you mean, Nagisa-chan?"

Nagisa's frown didn't waver. "That," she said, pointing at Tamao. "That's not your real smile."

"She's right." Yaya's voice came from Tamao's bed, where she was cradling Tsubomi like she was the most precious gem in the world. Tamao shot her a look but Yaya just gave her trademark grin before looking to Nagisa with a solemn expression. "Fake," she said shortly, pointing at Tamao. "That's a fake Tamao."

"Yaya-senpai…," Tsubomi muttered from her lap, burying her head in her hands.

Nagisa almost seemed to contemplate this for a moment, successfully taking the attention off of a grateful Tamao. Yaya looked unreasonably disheartened, and Tsubomi sighed and wrapped her arms around the older girl's waist in an attempt to console her. She'd obviously wanted to spark something between the two.

**PGBR**

"I told you matchmaking was better left to the professionals," Tsubomi said, flicking her hair over her shoulder snobbishly while Yaya moped behind her. "Then again, I suppose I can't put all the blame on you- it probably would have worked better with anyone who wasn't quite as thick as Nagisa-senpai. You know," she said with a slight frown, "I'm starting to think that's going to be a problem. Tamao-senpai is so perceptive, while Nagisa-senpai is just about as sharp as a bowling ball. There's bound to be problems…"

Yaya gave an exaggerated sigh and fell unceremoniously onto Tsubomi's back, wrapping her arms tightly around the pinkette and causing her to stumble. "Stop worrying about them," she murmured into Tsubomi's ear. "I'll start to feel neglected."

Tsubomi rolled her eyes. "Right," she said as she pushed into her room.

Yaya frowned slightly and leaned her hip against the doorframe. "Seriously, Tsubomi-chan," she said, reaching out and running her fingers through the long pink hair. "I don't like it when you pay so much attention to other people…"

Tsubomi sighed and raised her eyes to Yaya's, finding nothing but sincerity there. "Yaya-chan…," she began, closing her eyes. Opening them again, she found Yaya grinning down at her like a lion. "What?" she asked defensively.

"I was wondering when you were going to drop the sempai…," Yaya murmured, taking a step closer to Tsubomi and ducking her head down to nuzzle the younger girl's neck. Tsubomi didn't last five seconds before she flung her arms around Yaya's neck, practically purring as the older girl lifted her up and backed out of the room. "Let's spend tonight in my room, hmm?"

**PGBR**

Outside of the dorms, a lone figure was leaning against an old weeping willow, staring out at the lake. She scoffed slightly. _This is cliché even for you, Tamao_, the bluenette told herself wryly, thinking about the poetic potential of the situation. _You know she'll never notice you, and even if she does it'll be as a comfort figure; you're not Shizuma._

"Ara, but maybe that's a good thing?"

Tamao started, whirling around to face the smiling Le Rim president. "I said that out loud?" she asked, then cursed herself for the stupidity of her words. Of course she said that out loud- unless the rumors about Chikaru were true…

Chikaru gave her a sympathetic smile and stepped closer so that she was leaning against the same tree as Tamao was. Tamao was suddenly hit by the subtle perfume of brown sugar and vanilla and something else. "Shizuma-sama is no saint, Tamao-chan," Chikaru said quietly, turning her head slightly so that she could look Tamao in the eyes. "None of us are perfect."

"But some of us are perfect for each other," Tamao said quietly. "Some of us can be as horrible and flawed as we like and there'll always be someone waiting to pick up the pieces. Shizuma-sama even has two of them- I don't even think she knows about Rokujou-san."

Chikaru's eyebrows raised just slightly. "Miyuki-san?" she asked in a contemplative tone. "So you knew about that too." She smiled slightly. "Even Shion-chan noticed that, though. She pretends to be so strong, but Miyuki-san simply isn't a strong person. She tries to cover it up…"

"But she's not Shizuma-sama either," Tamao murmured, staring down at her feet. "She can't encase her heart in ice. Rokujou-sama wears her heart on her sleeve, free to be broken again and again. Trying to cover up her weakness is like hiding in the corner of a well lit room and hoping no one sees you." She sighed, slumping back against the tree.

"Perhaps," Chikaru began, gazing at Tamao with the same contemplative look, "Nagisa-chan isn't the right one for _you_."

Tamao frowned and glanced up as if to question the statement, but Chikaru only smiled enigmatically and stepped forward, embracing her in a brief but unrushed hug before leaving towards the dormitories.

Tamao stood there for another few seconds, confused by the warmth in her face and the tingling in her arms. It had never been there with Nagisa- surely it wasn't supposed to be there when it felt so strange and out of place.

**PGBR**

"You found her?"

Chikaru smiled sadly at the blonde who gazed up at her blankly, dwarfed by the immense office chair that she sat in. She nodded. "She reminds me of someone else we both know," she said quietly.

Shion scoffed. "And just like Miyuki, she'll let it tear her apart before she realizes there's someone better out there for her," she finished for Chikaru, her violet gaze fluttering to the ground. "Who's going to stand up to me when she's mourning after that baka-hentai of an Etoile? It's not like Shizuma'll ever realize what she has- she's proven that twice now."

A sly smile lit up Chikaru's features as she took a small step towards the Spican. "And what does she have, Toumori-_sama_?"

Shion's expression didn't waver from the stubborn pout, but her cheeks lit up like the fourth of July. Clearing her throat hastily, Shion leaned back, attempting to regain her cool. "Well, it's not like I'm completely stupid," she said gruffly. "Even I can see how much potential Rokujou-san has, and how much better of a girlfriend she's be then that spacey new girl. I don't think she even knows what love is."

"And do you, Shion-koi?"

The tone in Chikaru's voice made Shion stiffen, and the blonde president's back straightened immediately. "Chikaru…"

"Shh," Chikaru said, instantly closing the distance between the two and pressing a finger to Shion's lips, her eyes twinkling. "It's alright, Shion," she said softly. "I think at this point, we can try and try to make things work, but in reality, all we're doing is making things easier on ourselves, fitting into the mold so we don't have to deal with love triangles and heartbreak. We complete each other, Shion- but not as lovers, hmm?"

With a great exhale through her nose, Shion nodded slowly, her frown softening into one of acceptance. "It was simple," she stated softly. "Watching all of the rest out there, fighting their feelings and getting their hearts trampled…and there we were, unattached for whatever reason, with no one to moon after us; no one's heart to break."

"No one's but our own," Chikaru agreed, brushing back a strand of blonde hair from Shion's face. "But that's no way to live, is it? I think we've been hiding our hearts away for long enough- especially you, koi."

Shion's jaw tightened and she spun in her chair so the back was facing Chikaru, who was at this point sitting on the large oak desk, one creamy leg folded over the other. "What are you talking about?" the blonde finally asked harshly. "If anyone's got to worry about hiding their heart it's you, Chikaru- your heart's big enough for four of us ordinary people."

"Just because you choose to hide behind your argumentative nature doesn't make it any different from my hiding behind my caring one," Chikaru said gently, in that same frank tone. "I know your secret, Shion- I've known it for a while now. You might think you're hiding from the world, but if someone really wanted to see past the cover, all they'd have to do is look."

"Shut up."

The response was brief and cutting, like a knife, but Chikaru didn't even flinch. "Hiding from others is one thing," she said, "but it's impossible to hide from yourself. Even if you shove me away and choose to ignore my words, Shion, they'll still be the only thing on your mind." Hopping off the desk, Chikaru tapped a finger to Shion's forehead. "As much as you don't want to believe it, koi, the heart is stronger than the mind. And your heart wants- needs- what your mind is telling you that you can't have. Which will you listen to, I wonder?"

**PGBR**

"What do you mean you're coming back?"

A soft chuckle came from the other end of the line. _"You are- why doesn't the same privilege extend to me?"_

Miyuki's jaw trembled, but she hesitated for only a moment to make sure her voice wouldn't waver. "You left the school in pieces when you left, Shizuma, and now that everyone's just started putting themselves back together…"

_"Peace is boring, Miyuki- besides, I miss my Nagisa-chan."_

The words stung more than she'd ever admit, but Miyuki forced herself to remain strong. "Nagisa doesn't appear to miss you, though," she said, taking a leaf from Shizuma's book and sneering through her words. "How does it feel to be on the other side for once, Shizuma? How does it feel to be the one with the broken heart?"

A pause on the other end signified that her words had struck their mark, but Shizuma replied with a steady voice. _"I wouldn't know- you'll have to ask that pathetic Suzumi-san after I leave the school after staying for just one week. Nagisa will fall right back into my arms, where she belongs."_

Something in Miyuki twisted at Shizuma's patronizing tone. She'd never been particularly close to Nagisa, but the girl was obviously innocent and easily manipulated- she didn't deserve having to be another notch in Shizuma's bedpost. _Like you. _"You left her, Shizuma. You don't have the right."

But the blaring dial tone told her Shizuma was already too far gone.

She sighed, hanging up the phone and sinking back into the sofa of the luxurious mansion her fiancé had inherited. Funny- she'd think she'd be happy with the way things turned out, or at least mildly satisfied. Despite what she said, without Shizuma, Miyuki was nothing but a hollow shell of a girl who wordlessly allowed her parents to engage her to a man she didn't know- a man who spent his days with a bottle and his nights with his wordless wife. She didn't dare contradict him- she'd learned that the hard way.

Still, she didn't have room to complain. Overall, they left each other alone, and she got a large house and an undying source of money for whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, right at her fingertips. So what gave her the right to feel so empty?

She missed Miator- she missed the hill. She missed Chikaru, the only one she'd ever told her deepest secret to- she even missed Nagisa, even though the woman she loved fell for her. That wasn't Nagisa's fault. Miyuki missed having to deal with Kaname and that little tart Momomi. She didn't miss Shizuma- she loved the girl, but she didn't miss the pain that came with that. The pain was duller here.

And Miyuki missed _Shion_- she wouldn't even try to deny it anymore. Shion, who'd played her foil in every attempt she'd made for a better life at Miator and Astraea Hill. Shion, who was always so stubborn, but secretly kind-hearted and chivalrous to a fault, never wavering in her moral values.

Shion, the only one who'd ever seen Miyuki cry.

Shizuma didn't count- Shizuma never counted anymore. And those tears were meaningless- those tears were fickle, fearful tears that came from being transferred to a new place where she wasn't caged.

It had been so stupid; Shizuma hadn't shown up _again_, and Shion was yelling at _her _for it _again_, and Chikaru had claimed sickness and left the room. And Miyuki didn't know exactly how it happened, but she'd ended up on the floor, arms drawn around her knees, positively _sobbing _because one could only be abandoned so many times by the girl she loved for a one-night-stand before one broke down.

It made Miyuki crack a small smile for the first time in months when she thought of Shion's reaction- the blonde had instantly stopped ranting and had become extremely flustered, kneeling beside Miyuki, chattering non-stop about how she hadn't _meant _anything by it… Finally Miyuki had stopped crying long enough to look up and see the distressed look on the Spican's face and had managed to laugh a little bit before standing up and assuring her that it wasn't her fault. Shion, of course, had refused to accept that answer, and had insisted on seeing Miyuki to her dormitory to make sure she was okay.

Miyuki shook her head- why she was remembering Shion of all people, she didn't know. Someone so cold and so stubborn, just like Shizuma…but not. Shizuma didn't care about people's feelings- Shizuma broke Miyuki's heart and went back to stomp on it with her expensive, brand-name heels. Shion was…Shion wasn't as tough as she liked people to think. Shion _cared_, but didn't want people to know it. Shizuma was selfish, and pretended to care just long enough to get what she wanted.

Miyuki rolled her eyes at herself and got up to pour herself a glass of wine before she went to bed, vaguely entertaining thoughts that maybe she'd picked the wrong girl to fall for.


End file.
